What's Mine Is Mine
by gjficfan
Summary: Caius Cullen's life revolves around his business and his nephew, Carlisle. What does Caius think as his nephew brings a host of new people into both of their lives? Companion story to "The Wednesday Dinner Thing." Rated M for language, situations, and themes. AH, AU, OOC, Non-canon pairings: R/C, Es/J, A/Ed, B/Em.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **

**1. Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight.**_** I'm just playing mix and match with her characters. **

**2. I am submitting this un-beta'd. **

**3. Make sure you pay attention to the months and years in the section headings. This is a timeline :)**

**4. Caution: The opinions below are those of Caius Cullen ;0)**

* * *

**The Wednesday Dinner Thing: **

**What's Mine is Mine, Chapter 1**

**Caius POV**

**Thursday, Februa****ry 17, 2011**

"Learn how to deal with people or you'll never last in this business. People Skills 101."

"It's my kitchen and I..."

"_Cullen _is my restaurant, and I've left you to your kitchen. But you need people to help you run it."

"It's not my fault..."

"My diner is three times this size with twice the staff and no turnover. Yet here, you can't even keep a fucking dishwasher. That's a problem."

"This is not the same as..."

"If I wasn't happy with your food, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I won't talk to you again. There won't be a next time."

I checked my watch. _Shit._ I was late for Carlisle.

"Leave. Now. I have another appointment."

I watched my young head chef stomp out of my office at the restaurant. Brash and innovative, she possessed more talent and ego than interpersonal skills. I didn't have time to keep mending the bridges she continued to destroy with my able kitchen and wait staff. She thought she knew it all; she thought she could do everything by herself. No successful business functioned well without a strong team. I'd learned that the hard way myself.

"I'm getting too old for this shit," I said as I rubbed my eyes while I waited for Carlisle to enter. He didn't.

Where the fuck was my nephew? I checked my cell and I hadn't missed any calls from him.

"Tamsyn!" I yelled.

I thought I could hear her actually squeak. When Jean retired as my executive assistant last year, she recommended her goddaughter as her replacement. I trusted Jean, so I gave the girl a chance. I found Tamsyn quite competent: highly organized, respectful, and dedicated. Yet, had I had time to search for a new assistant, I would have chosen someone less dowdy and sensitive. But I did not have time. I never had time for anything anymore. So she would do.

"Yes, sir?" Tamsyn asked when she timidly entered my office moments later.

"Have you heard from Carlisle?"

"Yes, sir," she said, her eyes round with fear. "He called while you were in your meeting. I didn't want to interrupt you."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. I'd told her repeatedly that my nephew took precedence over anything else I might have going on. And lately he'd taken to calling her to leave messages for me when he thought I was working instead of calling me himself. I would speak to him about that. I didn't like it.

Tamsyn babbled on. "He'll be here..."

"Now," Carlisle said as he walked into the room. "Thanks, Tam."

She blushed and smiled at him before turning back to me. "Drinks, sir?"

"No, that's all."

She scurried away.

"That woman is far too kind to be working for you," my nephew said.

"You're late," I remarked. He'd been a little more distracted since he'd been dating that salesgirl. It wouldn't do. Distracted businessmen made sloppy business decisions.

"You weren't ready for me anyway," he replied as he sat down.

"Are you planning a fast getaway? Take off your coat. Stay a while. I insist."

He stood and slowly removed his coat. "I'm sorry I was late."

His behavior instantly put me on alert. I knew my nephew extremely well. First of all, he knew better than to be late for an appointment with me. And I'd never had to ask him to remove his coat in my presence.

"Where have you been all week?" I asked. "You never did tell me."

"Monday was Valentine's day. I flew Rose to Vegas."

Rose. That's all he seemed to talk about anymore. I didn't like it.

"Aren't you bored yet?" I asked. "It's been a few months. I'm sure you've fucked her every possible way by now. What more do you need her for?"

He looked furious at my comment. I would have laughed if I hadn't been so surprised by that reaction. He recovered himself quickly.

"I love Rose," he said. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak about her like that. She's different."

I laughed boisterously. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know she was different."

Rosalie Hale was about as _not_ different as they came: pretty face, good body. Okay, very above-average body. Still, that didn't negate what she was: just another of the thousands of desperate woman looking to land a Cullen.

"My life is not a joke," he replied as he glared at me. "I don't know what you find so funny."

My nephew rarely took that tone with me. Only when I'd truly annoyed him. I didn't like it. Not one bit.

"What the fuck is going on with you today?" I asked.

Instead of answering me, he gulped noticeably and remained silent. He wouldn't, or couldn't, look me in the eye. He'd never clammed up on me like this. We confided in each other about everything. We worked with powerful and wealthy people; there was no one else we could trust. We only had each other.

Something was wrong with him. Very wrong.

"So, you wanted to meet with me," I said carefully. "Then, you show up late and now you won't look at me. What's going on?"

Carlisle looked up at me quickly, then looked away.

"As I said before, I love Rose," he mumbled.

I sighed. I should have known.

"Don't tell me you got her knocked up."

"No, I didn't."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Then what's the problem? Did she give you a disease or something? Jesus, Carlisle, I've told you to be careful."

"No, that's not it."

"Then tell me what's wrong and stop looking so fucking scared," I yelled.

"Rose means a lot to me," he said, finally looking me in the eye. "She's shown me a completely different way of life. I wanted to do something special, to show her how I feel."

It took every ounce of inner strength I had not to gag.

"And that's why you took her to Vegas and showed her things she's never seen," I said. "Understood. What's the problem?"

"There's not really a problem," he said. I thought I heard his voice quiver.

I stood from my chair, walked around my desk, and sat on the edge of it right in front of him. My nephew had never looked so visibly afraid of me.

I decided to take a different approach, and adopted a more pleading tone. "You know you can tell me anything. We can fix whatever it is. Trust me."

Did she have some dirt on him, on me, that she was threatening to make public? I wouldn't put it past her. He shut his eyes, then he let out a deep breath, and stood to face me.

"I got married in Vegas, Uncle Cai. Rose is my wife."

Again, I laughed.

"That's hilarious, Carlisle, truly," I said with a grin. "You met her, what, in December and now you're telling me you're married. That's a good one."

He'd clearly told me that joke to break the ice for whatever his problem was. I kept chuckling as I looked up at him. But he just stood there.

"I promise I won't judge you if you tell me what's wrong," I said calmly. "Sit down, okay? Just tell me what's wrong. I'm always here for you."

He did sit down but his dire expression never changed.

"There's no problem, other than your reaction. I'm telling the truth."

I stared at him for several minutes.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you're serious," I demanded. With much trepidation, he looked into my eyes.

"I'm serious. We're married. "

I looked at his left hand and he was in fact wearing a ring on_ that _finger. My heart pounded in my chest as I clutched the edge of my desk.

"Tell me you had her sign a pre-nup." I spoke very slowly.

He shook his head, and quickly looked away from me. I stood and walked to the far corner of my office, as far away from him as possible in the space.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO FUCKING STUPID?" I roared. I saw him flinch.

For the first time in my life, I wanted to physically harm my nephew. To keep from doing that, I picked up something - what I didn't even know - and threw it against the wall. Shit shattered and fell everywhere.

"You need to leave. Right now. I can't even look at you. Get the fuck out. NOW!"

My nephew was my whole life, and I'd never sent him away like that. But if he stayed, I would say something that might make him really hate me, and I couldn't have that.

He knew me well enough to take me at my word and left quickly. I glared at the wall, shut my eyes, and took deep breaths as I clenched and unclenched my fists.

_That fucking bitch. _How dare she?

Something else crashed against the wall. I must have thrown it though I had no recollection of doing so.

I knew that whore was trouble from the moment he introduced me to her. She'd probably already quit her job. She'd just found her golden goddamn ticket.

I had to get the fuck out of here. If I didn't, my office - no, this whole fucking restaurant - would be destroyed and I'd worked too hard to build it.

"My office. Have it cleaned," I ordered as I blew by Tamsyn on my way out.

She must have heard my outburst with Carlisle and warned Lyle, my driver, because he was already holding the limo door open when I stepped outside.

"Didy's. And step on it," I demanded.

"Yes, sir. Right away."

Only the walls of my sister's home could calm me down at this moment. I missed her every day, but I had never wished she was here more than I did right now. She'd be just as furious as I was, if not more.

We raised that boy as our own. I busted my ass my whole life to care for the both of them. We'd shaped him and groomed him into the wildly successful man he'd become. And we didn't put in all that time, and all that effort, for some ordinary bitch to swoop in and take it all.

I almost felt sorry for her. She couldn't possibly be smart enough to understand what she'd done in thinking she was in any way worthy of marrying my nephew. That big-tit skank might have gotten over on him, but she had _never_ met the likes of me.

She might have a ring on her finger now, and knowing my nephew, it was probably huge, expensive, and rare. When the dust settled from the war she'd just waged, that would be all she'd have left.

* * *

**Friday,**** June 17, 2011**

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Mia.

Instead of answering, I stared at her full, heavy breasts as she climbed into bed. The female body: had anything greater ever been created?

"I'll miss your relationship with my tits," she said as she laughed.

I grinned too. "Your tits and I were having a private moment before you interrupted us."

"They'll remember you fondly," she said as I laughed this time. "Answer my question."

"No, I don't want to talk about it," I replied.

My mind was so fucked up these days that even Mia was picking up on it, and that wasn't fair to her at all. I had several issues, but the primary one involved my nephew.

I was increasingly annoyed that I couldn't find a way to get that woman out of his life.

In the four months since Carlisle dropped that wedding bombshell on me, I hadn't been able to uncover any real dirt on Rosalie Hale. I even thought of making something up, but the risk was too great. If he found out, he'd never speak to me again. The mere thought of a life without my nephew in it was unfathomable.

Additionally, I had never had to work so hard to manage my businesses. I wanted to believe that the new restaurant had tipped me over the edge of what I could handle. But I was starting to think that it was simply a case of me starting to feel my age, and I hated that.

I decided to forget all that bullshit and immerse myself in these last few hours with my delectable Mia.

"Do I ever want to talk about it?" I asked.

"No," she said, moaning when I used my hands, mouth, and tongue to attend to her voluptuous breasts.

Mia ran her hands all over my head and shoulders as I took my time with her soft supple mounds and their hard taut tips. The extra attention was as much for me as for her. Lately, no matter how aroused I felt, my dick needed a bit more time to join in on the fun.

I knew that Mia noticed; we'd been fucking for over a year now. She had to have noticed. But she never made mention of my problem. I could always get it up eventually, about twice a day, it just took more time. My doctor recommended pills; but for now, I wasn't quite ready to go to that extreme. I literally didn't have time for more sex than I was already having anyway.

"I'll worry about you when I'm gone," she said after she pushed me onto my back and straddled me.

Tomorrow, Mia would be moving to Connecticut. She'd landed her dream job. No one was happier for her than me.

"You won't," I said, rubbing my hands all over her ample thighs.

"I will," she replied as she began a slow grind against my stomach. I grabbed her hips, roughly digging my fingers into the flesh while she continued to move.

"All good things...," I said, transfixed by the motion of her swaying tits above me. "You know the rest."

"I do," she said sadly before she leaned down and stuck her tongue in my mouth, distracting me from my thoughts as she always did.

"Something's really bothering you," she said after a time as she increased the pace of her sensual dance. My eyes traveled back and forth from her lips to her hands. She knew I loved seeing those bright-red nails dragging over my skin and the imprints from the matching red lipstick all over my body.

"I hope it all works out."

"That makes two of us," I replied.

I closed my eyes and savored her touch, her sounds, and her scent. I could feel her wetness against me. Soon, she would lick it off; she liked the taste of herself on my skin. Just the thought of her hot little tongue got me harder.

"Think about me," she said breathlessly, "not your problems."

"What problems?" I asked with a grin as I opened my eyes.

"Exactly."

She smiled while she placed both hands on my chest and lifted herself off of me. She bent over and used that tongue and those hands to clean up all the remnants of her juices from my body.

"That feels so fucking good," I said with growing desire as I watched her. My cock twitched with anticipation, quite excited by her actions as well. She reached down and began to stroke it. Eventually, her repeated actions did their job; I could feel myself lengthening and leaking a little. I wound my hands in her hair as she picked up the pace of her licking and sucking from my stomach down toward my dick.

"That's more like it," Mia said, stopping to smile wickedly at me as I pulled and yanked her hair; she loved that shit.

"Yes," I hissed when she used those sharp nails to scrape along my sac. "More," I demanded.

"I knew that would get you," she said, smirking at me.

We both could see that I was close, very close. Mia sat up and grabbed a condom from my nightstand. She rolled it down on me; the end of it had the twisted ribs that she liked. She laid back flat against the mattress when she was done.

"I don't like you distracted," she said as she gazed up at me.

I stood up beside the bed and stared down at her. Wild jet-black tresses framed her gorgeous face, her olive skin contrasted my pale sheets, and the smell of her arousal fucking called my name. Finally, I was ready for action.

"Trust me," I said as I pulled her to the edge of the bed, roughly spread her legs, and positioned myself at her entrance. "You have my undivided attention."

When I plunged into her from my standing position, her excited grin turned into a rapturous gasp.

"Caius!"

Of the many experiences I'd had in life, few gave me greater pleasure than hearing a woman scream my name in ecstasy. Knowing that I could cause so much sensation was truly a powerful drug.

I gave Mia what she wanted: a thorough pounding that she'd never forget. She screamed, cursed, writhed, and yelled the entire time. I might be getting older, but I was still quite strong and I had great stamina.

"You're an amazing man," Mia said sleepily after she came.

I lifted my head from her chest where I'd collapsed after my own release.

"Is this news to you?" I asked before I rolled off of her.

"I doubt I'll ever find anyone like you again," she said. She wore a somber expression as she stood gingerly and made her way to the bathroom.

I sighed. If she was going to start getting fucking emotional, then I was glad that this -whatever we had - was ending. I stood, removed the condom, and tossed it in the trash.

"We had a great run," I said when she returned and got back into bed. "Nothing to be sad about. You have a great opportunity."

"I want you to be happy," she said. "I _will_ worry about you."

"Don't," I replied. She stared at me with sad eyes for several more moments before she fell asleep.

I would be fine. I always had been, I always would be.

The old me would have already been wondering what, or who, I would do next. However, this me was too busy, and honestly a little relieved that this thing with Mia was ending. I'd felt somewhat pressured to keep up with her. At 38, she was confident, assured, and demanding. I never liked to disappoint, but at 60, my mind was often willing, but my body wasn't always able.

Unlike past experiences, I'd become comfortable with her, too comfortable. We'd settled into a routine, almost like a real schedule. That had never been my style. Only a handful of women had ever held my interest in the bedroom for any sort of extended time period because they were that good; but several months had been the maximum I could stand even then.

I decided to take a shower as Mia slept; my mind just wouldn't shut off. On the way, I stopped to look out of my bedroom window. From my condo, I had an incredible view of Seattle below: so many people out there, and of late, so much desperation. I saw it everywhere I went, in all walks of life.

If I did get involved with another woman, I'd have to be much more discerning than I had been in the past. People were simply not to be trusted, now more than ever.

Carol and Bridget, two of the strippers who sometimes worked my poker games, told me that they knew of women who actively wanted to get me into bed because they'd heard of my prowess. Women were looking to land _me_ as notches on_ their _bedposts. Not that I could blame them: if I was a woman, I'd want to fuck me too.

The ladies had been very amused telling me about that, but I hadn't found it funny at all. I liked confident women, not aggressive ones just looking to boast about their exploits with me. I had always exercised discretion in my sexual endeavors. That's why I only brought women here to this condo. I kept nothing of major value or importance here; there was nothing incriminating for some shady sort to get her hands on to use against me.

The only time I'd been fairly careless with regard to the women I selected was after Didy died. I lost myself in women then, so many I couldn't begin to count. And what was worse, I brought them into the home I shared at the time with Carlisle. But I was a mess then, not thinking clearly at all. Even then though, I'd been so used to being careful and cautious around women, that nothing bad had resulted from that horrible time in my life.

And these days, an unscrupulous woman could get online or on social media to share her tales with the world. A single guy with money like me had to be extraordinarily careful.

Perhaps it was a good thing after all that my libido at 60 was nowhere near what it had been even five years ago. Maybe it was for the best that Mia's body had been enough to keep me entertained for such an uncharacteristically long period of time. Or that I'd been too busy to search for someone else. I guess she'd been life's way of transitioning me into a more monogamous future. Time would tell.

With a protracted sigh, I headed into the bathroom for that shower.

* * *

**Sunday,**** July 17, 2011**

I pulled up in front of Carlisle's home, hoping that I would find Rosalie there. I was doing my best to make her as uncomfortable as possible. I hadn't figured out a way to break them up yet, but that didn't mean I would just lay down and let her think she owned the place. My nephew worked too hard for his home_._

I used my key and walked right in; I could hear them talking and laughing in the kitchen. I walked swiftly through the living room eager to wipe the smile off of her face.

"Are you ready?" I asked my nephew. Rosalie glared at me.

"Good morning," Carlisle said after letting out a sigh.

I hated the strain this whole mess had put on our relationship but I had a job to do, and there was no room to be soft. I had to protect my nephew, even from himself.

"It is," I replied with a smirk. "Ready?"

"You can't just come in here and ignore me," Rosalie shouted, finally losing her temper. "It's my house too."

I grinned even wider. "For now," I said. "But I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you. Once my nephew..."

"Uncle Cai, that's _enough_," he shouted. "Rose is my _wife_. This is her home."

"For now," I repeated smugly, never taking my eyes off of her.

"You fucking miserable asshole," she yelled. "God forbid Carlisle should ever have a little happiness in his life." She ran from the kitchen and raced up the stairs.

"Are you ready?" I asked my nephew. "I won't ask you again. You're the one who wanted to go up to the auction house today."

Carlisle liked to visit my pawn and auction businesses from time to time. Desperate people often sold family treasures that were worth far more than they realized. He sometimes found items for his trade there.

"When I say goodbye to my wife, I'll be ready," he said acidly before he also walked upstairs.

I shook my head, completely unfazed. He could be angry now, but he'd thank me later. I frowned as I looked around the kitchen. I could see little traces of her here and there. They annoyed me.

"You can't keep doing this," Carlisle said when he stormed down the stairs. "She's not going anywhere. I love her."

"But does she love you?" I asked. "Or your bank account?"

"Is it so hard for you to believe that someone could love me?" he asked sadly.

"Of course not," I replied with a scowl.

_Shit. _I hadn't wanted to make him feel that way at all. Of course he was lovable: no one loved him more than me.

"Then I'm asking you, begging you, to stop this," he said. "You raised me and I appreciate everything that you've done for me."

I couldn't help puffing my chest out a little.

"But I'm not an idiot," he added. "I thought long and hard about marrying Rose. And I decided that I wanted her in my life. Don't make this a contest because as much as I love you, you may not win."

"God, you're like a damn soap opera," I said dismissively.

Finally, he smiled a little as we walked to my car. I gave him the keys and he happily climbed into the driver's seat of my new Mulsanne.

"Beautiful," he said as he examined the Bentley's controls.

Carlisle owned a number of vehicles too, but I had many more. He loved to drive all of my toys, and I'd been quite shamelessly using them as a means to win him back over. I couldn't believe it, but he was truly upset that I hadn't yet accepted Rosalie.

As he started the car and pulled away, I thought over what he said. I believed in romantic love; it just wasn't for me. But I didn't want him to think he was unlovable. Didy would have cursed me to hell for making him feel that way. I just wanted him to be careful. That was all.

Why couldn't Didy be here? She'd know exactly what to do. She'd have never allowed this whole mess to get this far in the first place.

"If you'd just take the time to get to know Rose," he said, "I think you'd love her like I do. She's so much more than her looks. She has an excellent mind for business."

"Is that so?" I muttered.

"Always the hard ass," he said as he turned and smirked at me.

"Eyes on the road," I said. "Don't crash my fucking car."

"Yes, sir," he said with the smirk still on his face.

"Don't call me 'sir'," I said as he grinned wider. "You know I hate when you do that. You're not my staff."

"Yes sir, sorry sir," he said before he snorted with laughter. I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Arrogant little shit," I said.

"I'm yours though. Right,uncle?" he replied.

I grinned despite myself. "Yes, you are."

I loved when he behaved in a silly manner like this; he was so straight laced and stiff sometimes. But none of that mattered because it was all a diversion from the issue at hand. Carlisle was far more into this woman than I ever imagined.

I lived for Carlisle; seeing him succeed made me incredibly proud. If he shut me out, I didn't know what I'd do. I couldn't lose him. I wouldn't.

I'd clearly have to change my tactics. I couldn't risk pushing him away any more than I already had. He was already getting snippy with me, which he'd never done in the past.

Apparently, I had a formidable opponent in Ms. Hale. And in our little war for Carlisle, she possessed a very powerful stronghold: she controlled his dick. I couldn't compete with that. The bitch was winning; I needed a better strategy.

For now, I just wouldn't talk to her. I'd ignore her almost completely until I came up with a new plan of attack.

"What are you plotting over there?" Carlisle asked as he drove. "You're too quiet."

"Nothing you need to worry about," I replied.

I decided to deflect. "I haven't talked to you much this week. What have you been up to?"

"Rose and I met some people in the neighborhood. We've seen them a few times this week actually."

This was news. I turned my head sharply to look at him. "What people? When did you meet them?"

"Alice and Edward Masen, a couple fairly new to the neighborhood, had a yard sale at the community clubhouse."

"A fucking yard sale, at _Forest Crossing_? I'm surprised the association allowed that. Why did you?"

"We generally leave those sorts of decisions to the management team," he said. "And there's nothing wrong with fostering a sense of community. It was all for a good cause; the proceeds went to charity. Rose and I thought we might meet some potential clients. That's why we went."

I turned my head so he wouldn't see me roll my eyes at the mention of her name. She wouldn't even be able to afford a fucking doorknob at _Forest Crossing_ if it wasn't for him, and here she was looking for clients like she belonged there and owned shit. She made me sick.

"You'd be surprised by the quality of the merchandise that was there," he said. "Alice Masen has expensive taste and she's something of a hoarder." He smiled as he said that while I tried to place the name.

"Masen, Masen, I don't know any Masens of consequence. Who are they?"

"They're young, younger than me, so you probably don't know them," he said. "Alice is a hair and makeup stylist. Edward is one of the staff musicians at the WTA."

"He must be very good then," I said. "People kill to get on there. They pay extremely well."

He continued when he saw I wasn't flying off the handle.

"Isabella Swan was there. She lives in one of the Building One condos. I didn't know."

"How'd you miss that?" I asked. "You're in the fucking homeowners' association."

"I've only become more heavily involved this year," he said. "She said they bought the place last summer."

"They?" I asked.

"Yes. She lives with her boyfriend."

"The football player? I thought he died in that boating accident."

"No. _Felix_ McCarty was the football player. Emmett is his twin brother."

"What does he do?" I asked.

"He works for Hike Washington. They give tours and..."

"I'm familiar," I said. "The Seattle branch is quite lucrative."

I pretended to listen as he kept talking, doing my best to hide my displeasure. Carlisle got on that community association board _specifically_ to keep track of who moved into the neighborhood to try to expand his client base. Yet, Isabella Swan, assistant to Aro fucking Volturi - one of his biggest clients, was sitting right there under his nose all this time and he didn't know it.

I sighed. Again, I couldn't be mad at him. This was all my fault too. I should have been staying on top of him, asking more questions. But I'd been stretched too thin this past year. Who knew what the fuck else had fallen through the cracks in my life.

"We met Esme Platt too," he said.

"Platt? As in Senator Platt? From Ohio?"

"She's his granddaughter. I'd never met her before in my dealings with him. She doesn't seem all that fond of him actually."

"I'll bet," I said as we both laughed. The senator was a nasty piece of work underneath his fake kindly demeanor. I'd met him several times on trips with Carlisle. "What's she doing in Seattle?"

"Filming a TV show," Carlisle said. "Esme's an interior designer. Apparently, she used to have a show on HGTV."

"What a small world," I mumbled. I could certainly understand one of the Platts living in _Forest Crossing_.

"We also met her boyfriend," he said. "Jasper Whitlock. He's a doctoral student at Washington."

"Really? What does his family do that he lives in your neighborhood?"

"He doesn't. I don't think he comes from money. He's just a regular guy. You should see them together." Again, he smiled at some memory.

He told me a little more about each of them as I pretended to listen again. I already knew about the Platts; this Esme was probably as snobby and entitled as the rest of them. Still, I doubted she posed any threat to my nephew so long as he stayed on her good side. Isabella worked for Aro, who vetted his employees more than the fucking White House, so I knew I didn't have to worry about her either.

But I'd have to find out more about these other people. I committed their names to memory: Alice Masen, Edward Masen, Jasper Whitlock, and Emmett McCarty. I couldn't just have complete strangers around my nephew without investigating. Especially now that he'd taken leave of his fucking senses. I rubbed my hands over my already tired eyes.

The lengths I went to in order to protect what was mine.

I noticed that he kept smiling as he talked about these strangers. That wasn't like him at all; Carlisle played the part of the gregarious charmer for work purposes, but in actuality he was more antisocial than me.

"You must have had a good time at the sale," I said.

He blanched, which surprised me.

"What?" I asked. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened," he replied. "Rose and I had them all over for dinner a few days after the sale, so we talked more there."

"Now you're throwing dinner parties?" I asked. This was not like my nephew_ at all._ "That house is your private escape. Since when have you started inviting strangers there? What happened?"

"Nothing happened," he repeated, much too quickly.

I was no fool. "What did she do, Carlisle? And don't lie."

Of course the bitch didn't know how to act appropriately around people with money. She'd never had any.

"It's fine now," he said quickly. "She knows I work with Isabella and she was a little... out of sorts... when she saw her. That's all."

Sometimes I hated knowing how to read between the lines of complete and utter bullshit. But I did because I had to do it all the time. Just like I did right now.

"She saw Isabella, got jealous, and made a big enough scene that you had to invite people over for dinner to smooth it all over. Did I get it right? Is that close to what happened?"

My blood was boiling. The _only _bit of credit I'd given the skank was that I thought she was professional. Her bosses and colleagues that I'd spoken with raved about her. I thought she'd have known better than to make a fucking scene in front of people Carlisle worked with or had the potential to. Clearly, I was wrong.

He sighed. "Yeah, that's about what happened," he finally admitted. "And I was a little too... excited... to see Isabella. I haven't done much work with the Initiative lately and I hadn't seen her in a while. I invited everyone to dinner to smooth everything over."

I laughed bitterly as I looked out of the window. Never in life had my nephew had an issue with professionalism. He had an impeccable reputation in which he took great pride. Now, all because of fucking Rosalie Hale, he'd forgotten how to behave.

Was she doing magic tricks with her twat? Because Carlisle had clearly lost the ability to think straight. Again, I rubbed my eyes. Why was this happening to me?

"But it all worked out," he said hurriedly. "We had a great time at dinner. Rose planned the whole thing. It was nice to meet people my own age."

"I'll say this one more time," I said slowly as I faced him. "You need to think twice about that woman. With your brain and not your fucking dick. I have worked my whole life building my business and my reputation. No woman ever jeopardized my work. Don't let anybody destroy what you and I have worked so hard to build. I mean it, Carlisle."

"I appreciate all that you've done," he replied as he nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "But there's no problem. Rose is good for me. I wish you could see that."

_Rose, Rose, fucking Rose._ I almost vomited right on the seat of my pristine new Bentley. I could already tell that this woman would not go away easily. What the fuck had she done to my nephew? What kind of she-demon was she?

Why couldn't this all have happened when I was younger and more on top of my game?

"Stop at the next bar you see," I said wearily. "I need a fucking drink."

* * *

**Wednesday, ****August 17, 2011**

"Ms. Platt may be staying with me here in the coming weeks," I said to Quinn. "If she requires anything in particular, I'll let you know."

"Yes, sir," she replied. "Good night."

I turned to re-enter the living room and found myself staring into the bright blue eyes of Sara Platt. I thought she was still looking around the house.

"Is she your only staff?" she asked.

"No," I replied with a chuckle. "She handles the staff for all my homes. She's my estate manager."

"Homes plural?" she asked with a sly grin.

"Yes," I replied. "Come let's sit outside. I'll tell you all about them. Oh, and help yourself to a drink."

She laughed, a beautiful sound, as she held up the drink she'd already prepared for herself.

"When I saw that you had my favorite, I did," she replied. "Four Roses, Single Barrel. You might be my new best friend."

"A lady who likes her bourbon. Very sexy."

I led her outside onto the deck; I knew she'd be impressed. She had no view like this in Ohio.

"This is stunning," she said. She stood near the railing and looked out over the beautiful waters of the Puget Sound. "If I lived here, I think I'd sit out here all day."

_You could. _The thought entered my mind unbidden. It was unnerving. But I'd had many such thoughts since I'd met Sara Platt, Esme's mother, at Carlisle's a few weeks ago.

Because Esme looked like the rest of the bland, snobby Platts, I had no real expectations of what her mother would look like. I'd been pleasantly surprised by the woman who greeted me.

Sara was tall, about 5'9" or 5'10" with long, straight vibrant red hair that fell to the middle of her back, and huge deep blue eyes that were the star attractions on her beautiful face. She either didn't mind or didn't care about the lines around her eyes and mouth. I found that refreshing; I liked that her face wasn't Botox'd frozen. She was a naturally beautiful, stunning woman, far more attractive and interesting than her daughter.

I'd been intrigued from the moment I laid eyes on Esme's alluring mother, which was probably why just a week later, I offered her a place to stay if she chose to remain in Seattle when her family returned to Ohio. I had no qualms about trusting her; she couldn't have lasted around the Platt family as long as she had if she couldn't keep secrets.

We'd spent almost every evening together talking and getting to know one another. Except those I worked with, I'd never spent this much time with a woman without fucking her.

"So this is not your only home?" she asked when she sat down at the table beside me.

"No. I have a condo downtown. That's where I live most of the time. And I still maintain my sister Didyme's home. It's actually right next door." I pointed to it.

"Why did you buy this one?" she asked. "Why not just live there?"

I shook my head. "That house is hers. I got it for Didy to make her more comfortable in her final years. She loved the view. Sometimes, I can't handle being there; I miss her too much. Other times, I can't bring myself to leave because I need her."

"You loved her a great deal," Sara said.

"I did. I still do," I said as I smiled. "She was my best friend. When this house went on the market, I had to have it. I could still be close to Didy, even if I couldn't bring myself to go inside of her house. "

"What happened to her?" Sara asked softly. "If you don't mind my asking."

"Not at all," I replied. "People are so afraid of me, nobody really asks these sorts of questions, not that I'd tell them anyway. I haven't known you very long, but I know that I can trust you."

"You can," she said.

I stared into her bright eyes. I felt helpless to their pull. I had no clue what this woman was doing to me but I found that I wanted to talk to her for as long as she'd let me.

"Didy had crippling arthritis," I said, "from childhood on. She had a sharp mind, but she was in constant pain her whole life. And back then, they didn't have the medicine and treatment they do now. As she got older, there were too many complications."

"That must have been hard on the whole family," she said.

"My parents spent a lot of their money on treatments and care for her. Our mother was very bitter about it. She was always very cold to Didy. It wasn't right."

I shut my eyes tightly as I thought of my sister; she was so beautiful with so much potential, but life dealt her a shit hand of cards. I didn't want to talk about Didy anymore. It was making me sad.

"Would you like anything?" I asked in an effort to change the subject. "Something else to eat?"

If I had one complaint about Sara's appearance, it was definitely her weight. She was much too thin, the sort of thin that resulted from not taking care of oneself. I didn't yet know the whole story, but something had happened with her and her daughter that had put a serious strain on their relationship and taken a major toll on Sara's health and well-being.

"No, I'm fine," she replied after she drank a little more. "Dinner was outstanding. Your restaurant is wonderful."

"Thank you," I said, grinning proudly. "You wouldn't believe how much trouble that place has given me. Of all my businesses, it's the most challenging."

"What made you want to get into the restaurant business anyway?" she asked.

"About ten years ago, I took over a diner. It's very popular, and it's in a great location. Because that place is so profitable, I thought I could have an equally successful fine-dining restaurant. But running _Cullen_ is a hundred times harder than I ever thought it would be."

"Why the night club?" she asked.

"Just something I always wanted to try," I said with a shrug. "Just like the diner, it practically runs itself. Excellent revenue from that place too."

"How'd you get into the pawn game? It's pretty ruthless from what I hear."

"My uncle owned a shop," I said. "I guess you could say it's in my blood. He was a mean bastard, but I worshipped him."

I smiled thinking about him and all that he'd taught me. Carlisle had been the same way with me, by my side, watching me work. Didy always hated when I took him; she said the pawn shops were no place for a young boy. But I knew it would be good for him to see me in action. He'd pick up the business firsthand. And boy did he ever. Only, he took what he learned and put it to use in a much more respected and lucrative way with his antiques business.

"He obviously had a willing and eager apprentice," she said with a grin.

"He did," I said, still laughing. "He left his shop to me when he died, and against my father's wishes, I took it over. In a few years, I opened two more. It was a while before I opened the auction houses though." She raised an eyebrow in question.

"Two," I replied. "Guess I hadn't mentioned those." She laughed and shook her head.

"That all seems like so much for one person to manage," she said.

"It's really not if you can find trustworthy people to work for you, and you stay actively involved," I said.

"And I'm sure they know better than to cross you," she said.

"I do have a reputation for not being very tolerant of mistakes," I replied.

Again, she laughed and the sound seemed to travel through my body. I could listen to it all day.

"So what do you do?" I asked because she'd never said. "Other than look beautiful."

"Smooth," she said as she laughed again. I liked to keep her laughing.

"My life is my daughter," she said eventually. "I don't do much that doesn't somehow involve Esme."

That was an odd answer. Carlisle meant the world to me too, but I also had businesses to run.

"Surely you must have friends and activities to occupy your time?" I asked.

"Really, I don't," she said. "Where we're from, the Platts control everything. Everyone knows the story they put out about me. Even after all these years, people keep their distance."

_Very_ interesting answer.

"So, I keep to myself," Sara added. "Helen's my only real friend." I found the senator's daughter, Helen, almost as fake as he was, but I didn't say that to Sara.

"What of your family?" I asked. "Did you have siblings?"

"Dead, and no," she replied bluntly without looking at me. Instead, she stared out over the water.

"What story did the Platts put out about you?" I asked too curious to remain silent on the matter. "The way you say it, it must not be a truthful one."

"It's not, trust me." I didn't like the hard, bitter edge I heard in that reply. I had clearly hit a nerve, so I decided to let it go. We sat quietly together. It was Sara who eventually broke the silence.

"If you don't mind me asking," she said, "how did you come to raise Carlisle?"

Had anyone else asked me that question, I would have minded, but I wanted Sara to know more about me, and she had told me her story. Part of it anyway.

"It was actually Didy who wanted to raise Carlisle."

"How many siblings do you have?" she asked.

"I_ had_ two, both sisters. I was the middle child," I replied. "My little sister was... impressionable. But Didy, the older one, was shrewd. She was a lot like me, only she had a heart." She chuckled as I smiled.

"Your younger sister was Carlisle's mother?"

I nodded.

"What happened to her? Why didn't she raise him?" I was happy that the bitterness and edge seemed to have gone from her voice. My Sara had returned.

"How can I put it briefly?" I mused. "She went to college, got knocked up, then married. He took her to California to live with his father's fucking church cult."

Sara didn't seem surprised in the least by my story. "It's hard to believe those places actually exist. But we have them back home."

"We knew she'd hate that sort of life. She was too coddled to live like some hippie."

"What did your parents do for a living?" she asked.

"My mother stayed at home. My father was a lawyer," I replied. She took a sip of her drink and I continued.

"She eventually came back home, broke and alone, with this dirty, screaming baby. Didy and my mother convinced her to stay. She lasted about a week, then she left again. But she didn't take the baby with her. We never saw her again until her funeral."

Sara gasped.

"It took forever to find out what happened," I said. "But she'd left Carlisle's father, and taken up with another man. He was older, but he told us he loved her."

"What happened?" Sara asked.

"She got pregnant again and miscarried. But she lost too much blood and they couldn't save her. We think she didn't receive proper care when she had Carlisle and that led to complications, but we don't really know for sure."

"How old was she?" Sara asked. She looked stricken.

"Only 22 when she died," I said, shaking my head. "My parents were never the same after that."

"That's horrible," she said. "She was so young."

"That whole time was rough," I replied. "My mother died about a year after that, and my father several years later."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," she said.

She reached over and held my hand, rubbing the back of it with her thumb. The warmth of her touch and the sincerity in her words startled me. I wasn't used to people comforting me. Nobody did things like that for me, because nobody knew these things.

"Thank you," I said. We sat quietly for several minutes and she never let go of my hand.

"You're a decent man, Caius Cullen," Sara said with tears in her eyes. "You play this big tough guy but I bet there isn't a thing in this world you wouldn't do to take care of the people you love."

I shook my head in reply to her words. People didn't say those sorts of things about me.

"Not so decent," I replied bitterly. "I wasn't around as much as I should have been, for Didy or for Carlisle. I left much of their care to nurses and sitters."

"I'm sure they appreciated everything you did to help take care of them," she said.

"When she died, I was a mess," I said. "But I had to take care of Carlisle. He was just a teenager. He needed me. I wasn't much help to him though. I don't know what he must have thought of me."

"From what I've seen, Carlisle thinks very highly of you, as he should," she said. "You raised him to be what he is. Where would he be without you?" She stood up, and walked behind me.

"I stand by what I said," she whispered in my ear. "You're a decent man and I'm glad to know you." Very lightly, she rubbed her hands over my shoulders and back and then began a slow massage.

"I always felt like he was mine," I said as I looked out over the water and enjoyed the feel of her hands through my shirt. "I never needed kids of my own; I already had a mini-me. He's all I have in this world."

"Like my Esme," Sara said as she sat back down. "She's my whole life."

"You never wanted more children?" I asked.

"Absolutely not," she said quickly. "Not with her father. Thank God it never happened."

What an answer.

"Last year, not being around her, almost killed me," she said as she shook her head.

"What happened with you two? You've mentioned last year several times," I asked. "Your relationship seems strained."

"I thought you knew."

"No, Carlisle told me that he knew she was hiding something, and when I met her, I could tell she was very guarded, but we have no idea."

"She dated Charles Evenson and..."

"Oh my God," I said with a laugh. "Talk about the lion and the lamb."

"So you know who he is?" Sara asked.

"I know who he _was_," I replied. My poker associates had taken great delight in telling what had happened to that jackass. He was well-known throughout the gambling circuit.

"What did you know?" she asked, sitting up a little straighter in her seat.

"His father bought some art through Carlisle once," I said. "The family is very wealthy. Or at least they used to be. I knew of Charles through some of the guys I play poker with. He had a gambling problem and he was an alcoholic. That's never a good mix. Apparently, he owed a ton of people money. How on earth did your daughter get involved with him?"

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "He was hired as the producer of her television show. Helen and I think his father arranged that as soon as he found out her last name."

"And Robert didn't check him out when they started dating?" The senator must have been completely preoccupied at the time. And as far as I knew, Esme's father, Bobby, was overseas and had little to no contact with her.

"He didn't know," Sara said. "I told her to keep it quiet if she wanted it to last. I was just so happy she was dating, and they had money, and she said he made her happy. I believed her, without doing much digging."

I remained silent but in my mind I shook my head. This was _exactly_ why I investigated Rosalie and all the rest of Carlisle's new friends. You just never knew with people. Lucky for all of them I hadn't uncovered anything that would have jeopardized my nephew.

"What happened?" I asked.

Sara seemed incredibly agitated, but she continued.

"They dated for a few years, quietly," she said, "but last summer she tried to break it off with him. Long story short, he didn't take it well. He showed up at her house one day and basically held her hostage. He almost beat her to death."

By the time she finished, she'd placed one hand over her mouth and clutched her stomach with the other. I immediately placed my arm over her shoulder to comfort her.

"He must have been drunk off his ass," I said. "No fucking way would he have tried that in his right mind. He had to know the Platts would make him pay for that."

"He _was_ drunk and out of his mind," she said as her voice shook and she wiped her eyes.

"When we went to see her..." She hung her head and shut her eyes tightly. I held her close to my side as she cried. I didn't say anything for several minutes as she calmed down.

"You blame yourself for what happened."

"I do," she said, looking completely distraught. "I pushed her to stay with him. I wanted her to stay out there and make a life for herself. I didn't ever want her to come back home for good and get stuck like I was."

"But she's a grown woman," I replied. "There's no way it's your fault. She doesn't blame you, does she?"

"No, she doesn't," Sara said with a distant look in her eye. "But I couldn't face her. I should have known. Of all people,_ I _should have known. Especially after..."

She looked absolutely stricken as she cried anew. Again, I held her thin frame against me. I noted what she left unfinished. I could fairly well fill in the blanks; I wasn't stupid.

Bobby Platt - golden boy son of the senator and the only male heir to the Platt fortune - raped Sara, and Esme was the product of the attack.

The scenario was the only one that made sense. It was something I'd wondered about since I'd met them all. There was no other reason that the Platts would have allowed their only son to marry a woman they likely considered beneath their standing, no matter how much money her family had.

At 53, Sara was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen, and I'd seen some beautiful women. At 19 or 20, she must have been breathtaking. Spoiled prick that he was, Bobby undoubtedly saw her and wanted her. So he took her.

And either he'd hurt her so badly during the assault that it couldn't be covered up, or there had been witnesses who would not, or could not, be silenced. Her family likely forced the Platts' hand; I'm sure they got something out of making their daughter marry her attacker. Because clearly Sara hated the man, as she should; there was no way she had voluntarily married him.

The Platts had probably paid many millions of dollars to keep Sara's family quiet. Then, the Platts probably spread around some story that Sara was a whore who enticed good little Bobby and they'd benevolently allowed him to marry her because it was the right thing to do for the baby.

It was pretty fucking despicable of Sara's family to force the girl to marry her rapist and keep and raise his child, and of the Platts to spread that bullshit story. But I'd seen desperate people do some pretty fucked up things in my day. Nothing surprised me.

I doubted Sara would ever tell me the whole story. But I'd spent my life around the wealthy and powerful, and I knew the shit they did and covered up. I might have a few details wrong, but based on what Sara herself had said, I was sure I was close to being right. Unfortunately.

"You couldn't have known what would happen to Esme," I said as I rubbed her arm. She shook her head.

"It was my fault," she said curtly.

I said no more. She was determined to blame herself.

"You don't understand," she said, babbling through her tears. "Her whole life, I obsessed over everything she did. Her hair, her clothes, her demeanor, her behavior. She was all I had. I smothered her completely. I did everything I could to keep her from being like_ them._ That's why she's so unsure of herself, even now."

"You weren't in a normal situation," I said, stroking her silky red hair as I tried to calm her. "You did the best that you could."

She said something else but I couldn't understand it through all her sobbing. All I could do was hold her and try to comfort her, which I did.

What a sad tragic life this woman had led. I wondered momentarily why she'd stayed in Ohio when Esme came of age. But I quickly pushed the thought aside. What else did Sara know? Her entire life had been controlled and manipulated. Where else would she have gone? Her life under the thumb of the Platts was all she knew.

Well, I would change that. For the first time in her life, she would be happy. Because of me. I would see to it.

I'd never allowed a woman to get this close to me emotionally, so why was I starting now? I didn't have an answer to that question, but I knew for certain that Sara Platt had already become very special to me. And I didn't mind one bit.

* * *

**A/N: And so Caius's tale begins.**

**1. As usual, this one went places I never expected, but I go where the characters lead. **

**2. Stupidly, I thought that Caius could be contained to one chapter. I was wrong. I hope to have the next chapter posted soon. **

**As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **

**1. Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight.**_** I'm just playing mix and match with her characters. **

**2. I am submitting this un-beta'd. **

**3. Make sure you pay attention to the months and years in the section headings. This is a timeline :)**

**4. Caution: The opinions below are those of Caius Cullen ;0)**

* * *

**The Wednesday Dinner Thing: **

**What's Mine is Mine, Chapter 2**

**Caius POV**

**Saturday, ****September 17, 2011**

What a day. What a week.

"I knew Ann wouldn't like them," Sara said. "But I thought she'd keep her fucking mouth shut the very _first_ time we met them." She threw her purse onto the sofa and practically ran to the bar to make herself a drink.

We'd just returned from Isabella's drama-filled surprise birthday party. Helen and Ann Platt had shown their true rich-bitch colors spectacularly. Sara ranted the entire way home, either with me or on the phone.

"I did think she'd at least pretend to like Jasper's family," I replied. It was all I could do not to laugh, but I refrained. Sara was entirely too upset to find anything funny about the situation.

There was no way in hell that the Platts were ever going to be happy about anyone Esme chose to marry. In their eyes, only a handful of families in the entire world were remotely on their level. But the fact that she'd chosen someone so down-home and decidedly... country... had clearly infuriated them. I loved every second of their discomfort.

Personally, I thought they should all be happy that Jasper even wanted Esme. Of all Carlisle's new friends, not counting Rose, I liked Jasper the most and Esme the least. She had the entitled air of all the rest of the smug Platts. I found her insufferable. But Sara made it clear that in her eyes, the sun rose and set on her daughter, so I bit my tongue.

Jasper's infatuation with Esme was his only failing from my viewpoint. I enjoyed talking with Jasper: he was engaging, intelligent, charming, and lively. Most of all, he didn't seem completely and utterly pussy-whipped like Edward and Emmett. Jasper had more of a backbone, as a man should.

"That dried-up old cunt ruined my life," Sara said of her former mother-in-law, Ann Platt. "I won't let her ruin my daughter's."

I had no chance to reply. Her phone rang. It was Esme.

"Sweetheart, no one hates you," Sara said. "Your fucking grandmother's the problem. Jasper's family saw with their own eyes."

I shook my head, and walked straight to my office. I was tired of that brat Esme whining and crying all over the place.

Besides, I wanted to find the perfect spot for my picture. Alice and Emmett had given it to me as a thank you for getting the Safeco suite for the baseball game for all the families. They couldn't have given me a greater gift.

I examined my desk. The best spot would be on the corner, where I could look up and see it. I cleared a space. I removed the picture, in its rustic wood frame, and placed it on the corner of my desk.

"Perfect," I said, unable to stop staring at myself and Carlisle, smiling together on his back patio. I had no recollection of taking the picture at all. Whoever had snapped the photo couldn't have caught me at a happier time. That was the night he had a dinner for me and the Platts, that was the night I'd first met Sara.

"I should get one of Didy too," I said aloud. "There's bound to be a good one over at her place."

I never liked to keep a lot of pictures around; they were often sad reminders for me. But I liked this one, and Didy should be here too. And Sara. And Rose. And the baby.

"Shit, I'll need a bigger desk," I muttered.

I sat down in my desk chair, pulled out my cell, and called Carlisle. He could probably use a break about now anyway.

He answered almost immediately. "How's it going there?" he asked. "I almost called you a little while ago, but I realized you probably had your hands full trying to keep Sara calm."

"She's still upset," I said. "But she'll be all right. I'm sorry, but I think it's funny as hell that the Platts couldn't even pretend to mingle with us lower classes for one afternoon."

Carlisle laughed quite loudly. "I said the same thing to Rose. I feel for Esme though. She doesn't deserve this. She shouldn't be judged for her family. People have been very accepting of me, in spite of my uncle."

It was my turn to laugh. "Funny," I said with a huge grin. "You're lucky to have someone like me in your corner. Don't forget that. What's the saying? I got your back."

"I won't ever forget all that you've done for me," he said. "I love you. You know that, even when you make me crazy."

"The feeling is mutual," I said. "I love you too."

Carlisle telling me that he loved me was becoming a regular occurrence. In the past, I would have chastised him for being too emotional. But now I didn't: I realized how much he needed love and family in his life. I knew that this was Rose's influence. I liked it. My nephew's wife was hard-working, resilient, thrifty, and strong, and physically beautiful as well. Carlisle could have done a lot worse in choosing a mate. I needed to give him more credit. Clearly, Didy and I hadraised him right.

"So what did you want, old man?" he asked. "You called me, remember?"

"I want a picture of you and Rose together," I said. "I'd like a nice one for my desk."

"Wow," he said. "Wonder what just happened? Some imposter just got on the phone asking for pictures of Rose. Uncle Cai, are you there now?"

I laughed for quite some time.

"You know I've accepted Rosalie," I said, still chuckling. "I've admitted I was wrong. You don't need to keep rubbing it in."

"It's just nice to hear you say it," he replied, chuckling himself.

I was being completely truthful though. I had never been more happy to be wrong. Because I had been about Rose.

I still didn't agree with them marrying so quickly, and I definitely didn't agree with Carlisle not having her sign a pre-nup. But I'd finally accepted the fact that Rose posed no threat to my nephew. More importantly, she truly seemed to love him. They loved each other.

My nephew hadn't grown up conventionally, with parents and chores and siblings like I had. He hadn't known his parents, and he'd been raised by me and Didy. And she'd been almost completely bedridden. Nurses, maids, and sometimes the women I dated had cared for our home, tucked him in at night, and cooked his meals. When he wasn't with them, or at school, he was running around with me as I tended my businesses. I certainly would have liked for him to have had a more traditional life, but that wasn't our reality.

So it had never once occurred to me that he wanted a more normal existence because it just wasn't anything he'd ever seen. But he_ did_ want that. Carlisle wanted someone with whom he could settle down and make a home, make a life. He'd somehow recognized very early on that Rose was the woman who could give him that. I had to respect him for understanding what he needed to be happy and going after it.

And now they would be a real family, with a baby.

I'd been in Ohio at Sara's when Carlisle told me. I think he was happy to tell me the news by phone where he couldn't see my reaction.

"_Are you sitting down?" Carlisle asked. _

_I could tell something was wrong just by his voice. _

"_What is it? What's wrong?"_

"_I have some news and I don't want you to..."_

"_Carlisle, so help me..." _

_My nephew unfortunately excelled at making a meal out of getting to the fucking point. _

"_Rose is pregnant. We're going to have a baby." _

_I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. I knew this was coming; I knew it. _I knew it._ Still, I wasn't prepared for the shock. _

"_Are you there?" he asked. "Say something."_

"_What is there for me to say?" I replied. "Is this what you want? Do you even have a say?"_

"_It's my baby, and yes I do," he said. "I'm shocked. We both are. She didn't do it on purpose. I know what you're thinking."_

"_Trust me, you have no idea what I'm thinking right now," I said. _

I _didn't even know what I was thinking, so there was no way that he did. _

"_Uncle Cai," he said, "I'm begging you to put aside whatever issues you have with Rose. I can't have you stressing her out. If something happens because of..."_

"_Oh, stop it," I said. "Of course I won't upset her on purpose. Not now. I've been leaving her alone anyway. You must have noticed."_

"_I have," he said. "But she still thinks you hate her, and that's stress she doesn't need." _

_I sighed and rubbed my hand over my eyes. "I'll talk to her. I promise. I need to go, but I'll see you on Thursday."_

"_I thought you were staying there until Friday?" _

"_I was until you told me about the meeting with your team. I can't miss that. I have a few questions about the zoning I'd like to ask." _

"_Thanks. I want you to see the church property. It would mean a lot if you were there."_

"_I will be." _

I'd kept my word. I even apologized to Rose and gave her a gift. She was still a little hesitant around me, and I couldn't blame her. I'd been horrible to her. But I had much less stress knowing I didn't have to worry about her. And I liked it that way.

"What brought this on?" Carlisle asked.

"I put our picture from Alice on my desk," I said. "I thought I'd make space for one of you and Rose as well."

"I'll ask her," he said. "I'm sure she has a good one. And, leave space for one for the baby too." I could tell he was smiling.

"Have you told the Hales yet?" I asked.

"Rose said her father figured it out, but she asked him to keep it quiet until the end of their visit."

"Smart girl," I said. "Are they driving you crazy?"

"Not at all," he said. "I've locked myself in my library." I guffawed.

"That's not in the spirit of family now is it?" I asked.

"Don't know, don't care," he said. "I've had all that I can stand. Even our bedroom isn't safe. They're everywhere. They're the loudest goddamn people I've ever met."

"Meeting them gives me new respect for Rose," I said.

"They'd be lost without her," Carlisle said in agreement.

Finally, I'd met Rose's family and what an experience that had been. My respect for Rose had increased by the hour as I watched her with them. She was their glue, that was very apparent. Carlisle seemed decidedly overwhelmed by them all, and I had to laugh. That's what happened when you married people you didn't know. You had no idea what kind of family you were getting.

There were just so many of them. Don, Austin, and Victoria, Rose's father and older siblings, were each a special brand of obnoxious. Henry, her younger brother, a college student, seemed high and dazed. I couldn't blame him though; you'd need to be on something to survive them. Irina, the youngest, was a churchmouse compared to the older ones; she was quiet and demure. It was hard to believe that she was even related to them. Maggie, Austin's wife was a gentle soul as well; their daughter, Nettie, was adorable and had really taken to Carlisle. I'd even peeked in on their rather large three-month-old son, AJ. I imagined he'd be just as loud as the others one day.

"Tanya winds them up," Carlisle said. "She's the real problem."

"We'll have to watch her around Rose," I said. "You were worried about me, but she'll do more to upset her than I ever could."

"You're right," he said. "She's out of control."

Rose's mother, Tanya Hale, was nothing but trash. I despised that tacky, loud, shrill woman. Carlisle told me that when he'd visited them, Tanya just sat back and let Rose play the role of mother to the whole brood, but I hadn't wanted to believe him. But he'd been completely right. I had no idea how she'd had such overachieving children. A woman like her deserved a bunch of inmates.

And she seemed to get off on antagonizing her children, which also annoyed me. Who does that? Why would I ever purposely antagonize Carlisle? Yes, I upset him at times, but it was never intentional.

Rose didn't need that stress now, not with the baby on the way. That's why I'd stepped in today at the party when Tanya barged over like a bat out of hell, yelling and shrieking at Rose about Irina leaving the party. If she was a real mother, she'd have known where the child was. If she was a real mother, she'd have given a damn when Rose eloped after only knowing a man for a few months.

No, I would never forget my first meeting with the Hales.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Carlisle said, "do you think it's a girl or a boy?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," I said, smiling. "I know what I'd like but I know I can't have everything I want."

This seemed to amuse him to no end because he couldn't seem to stop laughing.

"That's funny," he said. "Seriously, what do you want? A boy or a girl?"

"A boy would be nice," I said. "An heir to all of our businesses. But that's a lot of pressure to place on one little set of shoulders. I don't think that would be very fair."

"Interesting point," Carlisle said.

"I think I'd like a little girl to spoil," I said. "When she's older, she could still run the businesses, but without the pressure of having to carry on the Cullen name."

"I kind of feel the same way," he said seriously. "Rose doesn't believe me when I say that, and she insists that you want a boy to keep the name going.

"At my age, I don't think I'm up to the task of raising another Cullen boy," I said. "Keeping track of you is job enough." Again, he laughed.

The thought of the baby brought a smile to my face. A new Cullen. It was much too soon, in my opinion, but Didy would have been happy for him, so I would be too. They would be wonderful parents. Carlisle would be protective and Rose would be nurturing; that's how it should be.

"You seemed to have a good time at the party," Carlisle said.

"I did," I replied. "What better way to investigate all these new people than to meet them face to face."

He laughed. "I saw you talking to Alice for quite a while. What was that about?"

"Private conversation," I replied as I grinned. "What's it to you?"

"Tell me, old man," he said. "I'm curious."

"I had to find out how she knows me," I said. "You've seen how she is. Few people are so openly hostile to me."

"She's not hostile to you," he said.

"Maybe hostile's too strong a word," I replied as I smiled. "But you've seen some of the looks and glares she gives me. I figured she must have known me from somewhere. Turns out, I used to, uh, _see_, a hair stylist she once worked with. I remember that one quite well."

I certainly did. Heather was her name. There hadn't been much that woman wouldn't let me do; I'd become a little obsessed at the time. A good piece of ass could do that to a guy.

"I can only imagine," he said as he laughed. "Are you and Alice friends now?"

"I don't know," I said, smiling at my memory of our chat. "She told me I better treat Sara right or else. She's a bold little thing."

Carlisle was laughing his ass off on the other end of the phone.

"A woman standing up to you probably turned you on," he said.

"Especially an attractive one," I said. The boy was not wrong. Alice Masen was a striking woman.

"Why were you talking to Leah so long?" he asked.

"I was just meeting everyone," I said innocently. "Just saying hello."

"Bullshit, uncle," he said as he continued to laugh. "Try the truth this time."

"Okay, you got me," I replied as I laughed right along with him. "I had to meet her. A woman like that? Back in my heyday, Miss Clearwater and I would have had some _fun. _I'll leave it at that. Mark my words: she's a wild one in the bedroom. I can tell."

Isabella's stepsister could stop traffic, in my opinion. There had been many attractive women at the surprise party, but for me, next to Sara, Leah stood head and shoulders above the rest. She had gorgeous skin, clear brown eyes with real depth, set against long eyelashes that didn't end; I could imagine wrapping that long, thick hair around my fists and I wouldn't allow myself to envision what I could do with that hot lean body. I'd been fairly excited to have a reason to talk to her.

Had I seen her out in public, now that I was dating Sara, I would have just admired her. But in a setting like that where we were truly all supposed to get to know one another, I _had_ to talk to her. And unlike her sister, Leah actually took pride in her appearance. And then to find out that she used to ride motorbikes too? I couldn't blame that Jacob one bit for following her around like a dog with its tongue hanging out.

"Quit daydreaming about what you would have done to her when you were younger," Carlisle said as I laughed. "What about Heidi and Fallon? I saw you with them too."

"Did you spy on me the whole fucking party?" I asked in mock indignation. "I thought the point was to get to know people. I talked to almost everyone there, including all the good ole' boys." Again, he laughed hysterically, and I did too.

"How did that go?" he asked. I rolled my eyes, not that he could see me.

"How do you think?" I asked to more laughter. "I went up to that loft theater where they were all hiding out."

"Who was up there?" he asked.

"Isabella's father and some of his friends, and Edward's father, and Jasper's father and uncles. There were a few more too."

"I can only imagine their faces when you went up there," he said.

"They looked at me like I had three heads," I replied. "They kept staring at my suit and my watch. Not that I gave a shit."

"I met them separately," he said, "not all together up in the loft."

"It's not a crime that we care about our appearance," I said. "I told you I made a point of meeting almost everyone. I want people to know that you have family too. Family that won't hesitate to step in if there's a problem."

"You're so warm and fuzzy. That's why I love you," he said.

I clutched my stomach I was laughing so hard.

"Heidi and Fallon, I didn't forget," he said. "Spill the beans."

I smiled. He did know me well. I had absolutely talked to the girlfriend of Emmett's brother and her friend.

"They're clearly strippers," I said. "I just told them I knew where they could make a little money while they're here if they were interested."

Again, he howled on the other end of the phone. "I can't believe you," he said. "I'm crying I'm laughing so hard. What if you'd been wrong?"

"Carlisle, women don't get implants that big and that fake unless they're in the business," I replied as he laughed even more. "And guess what? Strippers like to make money. I know that's shocking. So even though they're on this little vacation, I told them what I know. Heidi actually doesn't dance, but she plans to. And Fallon was very flattered. No harm done."

We laughed and talked more about other people at the party.

"Did you by any chance talk to Emmett's mother, Jane?" I asked.

"Just to introduce myself," he replied. "I didn't want to linger with her."

"The only person with a crazier mother than Rose is Emmett," I said. "I thought Jane was about to pull out a bible and whack me with it at one point. She's like the crazy mother from the _Carrie_ horror movie with the Jesus shrine in the closet."

Again, his laughter filled my ear. "She's something else," he said. "But I think you're wrong. Bella's mom might have them both beat."

"Dear god," I said as I remembered meeting her too. "The woman is insane. But I'll tell you, those natural, holistic ones are very in tune with their sexual sides. So I'll give her a pass. You see she snagged that young man, Phil. I guarantee he's not complaining."

Again, we laughed. "So what really happened at the table with the Platts and Whitlocks?" he asked.

"The Whitlocks made the unforgivable mistake of asking where Esme's father was," I replied. "Then, they asked whether Helen and George had kids. I mean, how could the Whitlocks be so insensitive."

I knew he'd pick up on my sarcasm, and he did. Carlisle kept laughing so I kept talking.

"People ask me if I have kids all the time, and I don't get all bent out of shape about it," I said. "It's a part of life. You see people, especially people you're about to be in-laws with, and you ask about their kids. It's not the Whitlocks' fault that the Platts whole family tree is fucked up."

"When people ask you if you have kids, what do you say?" he asked, his voice filled with mirth.

"It depends on how I'm feeling about you at the time," I said. "Usually, I say I have a son. You're a handsome successful bastard so you're easy to claim. And you try to be just like me anyway, not that I can blame you."

He was laughing so hard he was having difficulty breathing on his end of the phone. I liked him like this.

"If I'm upset with you, I say I have an ungrateful nephew I've done the best I could with."

"You're so kind and loving," he said, still laughing.

"I am," I replied with a chuckle. "I really should check on Sara. I'll talk to you soon."

I returned to the living room, took off my shoes, and sank down into my couch, still smiling and chuckling. I loved that boy.

I leaned my head against the back of the couch and turned to watch Sara as she paced the deck, alternating between smoking and drinking as she talked on the phone. From what I'd seen, she didn't smoke often, only when very stressed.

"It's not your fault," she said. "You just got caught up in the moment. But you'll have to apologize if you want Esme to forgive you."

She had to be talking to Helen Platt. Hell would freeze over before Ann, the senator's wife, would apologize for saying Jasper's family would be working for them back home. There was just some shit you didn't say if you expected to have any kind of relationship with people. Even I knew that. When she finished talking, Sara walked back inside.

"Fucking Ann," she mumbled as she looked for something in her purse, probably more cigarettes. "Miserable evil bitch."

By the time I formed a response, she'd already gone back outside where she smoked and paced all over again. The swearing, smoking, and drinking, plus the high heels she'd yet to take off that showcased her long legs, were majorly turning me on. I walked outside to join her.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked as I stood behind her and rubbed my hands down her bare arms.

"No, there isn't," she said as she pulled away and turned around to stare at me with blazing eyes. "I'm sorry to be like this, but I'm too worked up right now. I know Ann fucking hates me, but I never thought she'd do this to Esme. I never..."

Her phone rang once more. The brat. _Again._ I sighed and walked back inside.

In not quite two months' time, I'd developed incredibly strong feelings for the lithe redhead who currently stood on my deck tempting me.

What I wouldn't give to be able to walk out there, snatch that phone from her ear, bend her over that railing, and fuck her brains out. She'd probably never even had sex outside before. The things I could do to that woman. If only she'd let me.

Because of what had happened to her with Bobby Platt so many years ago, Sara was still traumatized. I was fairly certain she'd never had any sort of counseling for what happened to her, and I didn't know what to do. She still hadn't actually told me the whole story. I just figured it out.

I also knew that Esme's assault last summer probably triggered horrible memories of Bobby's attack. That's why Sara blamed herself so much for what happened with Esme. That's why their relationship had been so strained.

She'd never told Esme the real story; she didn't want the girl to know how she'd really been conceived. Clearly, no one had ever told Esme.

Sara was turning into my own personal siren: luring in me in with her beautiful laugh, all the while leading me to my ultimate demise. Only I wouldn't die from crashing against the cliffs; I'd die from blue balls.

"Why me?" I wondered aloud as I watched her out on my deck.

I loved sex, even if my drive wasn't like it used to be. I wanted to show Sara that sex could be good. I was an amazing lover, all the women I'd been with said so. I could be gentle with her. I could make her feel things she'd never felt. But I had to follow her lead and, so far, she wasn't leading.

She'd only just gotten to where I could explore her body with my hands when we kissed. That was the most physical intimacy she would allow. She always pulled away looking torn about what to do, and I was left feeling guilty for even touching her at all. I was back to jerking off in the shower like some young teenager.

And all the physical things we'd done had only happened right on this couch. At the end of each night here, she retired to the guest bedroom she'd set herself up in.

This was exactly why I never pursued a romantic relationship with anyone. There were too many fucking feelings involved. Already, she consumed more and more of my time, thoughts, and energy.

I'd been asking myself the last several days whether I wanted to continue in a relationship with someone who had a past like hers. It wasn't that I felt like she was damaged goods physically, but I didn't know if she ever would be able to be with me emotionally.

It didn't matter what the answer was though. It was already too late. I didn't want to just fuck Sara Platt. I wanted to take care of her, make her happy, and show her a good life. When had I ever wanted to do all that for a woman?

Why was this happening to me? I was a good guy, despite my reputation. I'd employed many people over the years, including several ex-cons who couldn't find work anywhere else. I had taken care of Didy and Carlisle when my parents hadn't left much money behind at all. I made sure that they had the best, and it wasn't always easy.

And yes, I'd enjoyed the company of countless numbers of women. But since when was that a crime? I'd never forced myself on any of them; I'd never led anyone on. I'd helped several of them out of financial binds, and more importantly, I'd put smiles on each of their faces.

I was a good guy and all I'd ever asked for was a good fuck when I wanted it. Now I couldn't even have that.

I rubbed my eyes, chuckling bitterly at what my life had become. And Carlisle had done this to me. Thanks to him and his fucking little gang of friends, I'd met the only woman I'd ever wanted who I might not be able to have. What kind of fucked-up karma was that?

My siren started talking again; from the sound of it, this time, she'd called Jasper.

"You're a fucking shrink. You must have some pill samples or something you could give her. She'll make herself sick if she's like that all night."

Clearly, she didn't like his response.

"Whatever," she yelled as she shut down the phone, finished her cigarette, and tossed back the rest of her drink.

"Caius, could you have your driver take me back to Esme's?" she asked, still furious when she walked inside. "She needs me tonight. She's a mess. And Dr. Know It All can't seem to do shit to help her. I won't be able to rest knowing she's over there like that."

"No," I replied as I stood and put my suit jacket then my shoes back on. "I'll take you myself."

Did I want to drive all the way back over there tonight? No, I did not. But, there clearly wasn't much I wouldn't do for Sara Platt.

I had taken my nephew to task for falling too hard, too fast, for a woman he barely knew and damn if I hadn't done the same exact thing.

* * *

**Monday, ****October 17, 2011**

"Don't you try that psychology bullshit on me," Sara said. "I'm not Esme. I'm not under your spell. You can kindly go and fuck yourself."

I chuckled from my seat on the couch as I couldn't help but listen to Sara on the phone. Her disdain for Jasper grew stronger by the day. But I knew that her issues with him stemmed from a different place than the Platts' issues with his family.

Esme was Sara's world, and Jasper was a threat to that. It was essentially the same problem I'd had with Rose in the beginning. Only seeing the change Rose made in Carlisle had worn me down; that was not happening with Sara and Jasper. He was the biggest single threat to the only way of life she'd ever known.

Sara sat next to me on the couch. "He's such a smug fucking jackass," she said. "I don't trust him one bit. I'm glad Rose and Alice and the others are around, they can keep him in line. And thank God for Carlisle especially. If not for him, my daughter would be walking around with an engagement ring from Walmart."

I hated when she berated Jasper, but that shit was funny. "What did he do this time?" I asked when I finished laughing.

"He invited me to Texas for Thanksgiving," she said, looking furious as she crossed her arms tightly. "When I turned him down, he tried to lecture me about family and moving forward."

"The nerve of him inviting his future mother-in-law to dinner," I said sarcastically. That made her laugh a little.

"What _are _you doing for Thanksgiving?" I asked.

"Nothing," she replied. "Esme's going to Texas with him. And I don't want to spend any more time with The DumbFucks than I have to."

Again, I laughed. She especially hated Jasper's mother, but I liked Sharon. I admired that tiny woman's ability to keep all those big tough cowboys in line.

"Helen always spends the holidays with George's family," Sara said, "and Ann and Robert usually go to Switzerland to see Bobby. Not that I'd eat with them by myself anyway."

I could feel another rant coming on from her. Now that we were together and she really trusted me, she unloaded at will about her life under the eye of the Platts. I just wasn't in the mood, so I did what I could to head it off.

"I've been invited to Carlisle's," I said. "Rose's entire family will be there and I'd love it if you could come. I'll need a buffer to keep from killing the mother."

"Sounds like a fun time," she said as she laughed. "I'll be there."

"Good." I leaned over and kissed her; she snuggled up to my side. I never thought I would grow to appreciate this sort of close contact, but I had.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Sure," she replied.

"Is Helen angry that you're not around much anymore, that you haven't gone back home? I thought you two were extremely close."

"We are great friends," she said with a smile. "But I think she's happy for me. She travels quite a lot. She spends part of the year with George in DC anyway. There were big chunks of time when I was just home alone with the staff. I knew a few people socially but Helen's my only true friend."

"She was," I said. "Now you have another."

"Yes, I have another true friend now." She grinned up at me.

We sat quietly like we usually did each evening after dinner when the staff left, winding down from the day, talking and listening to music. Sara bought a car, a Range Rover from Rose naturally, and spent her days exploring Seattle. Little by little, she was making herself at home here and that made me happy. I wanted her to stay.

She got along well with Quinn, my estate manager, which was a huge relief for me. I'd hoped she wouldn't be horrible to my staff, and while she wasn't overly friendly, she wasn't nasty to them which was really all I'd hoped for.

Several times, she'd come with me as I checked on my businesses. People seemed surprised to see me with the same woman by my side, but I wanted them to get used to seeing her around.

"Where did we go exploring today?" I asked.

"I actually ended up near _Cullen_," she said.

"You should have stopped in," I replied. "We could have had lunch together. I was there most of the day."

"I did stop in," she said. "But you seemed... busy."

"Never too busy for you," I said as I kissed her on her forehead.

"You were with a woman, in a booth," she said. "I didn't want to disturb you."

I removed my arm from around her and turned to face her. She tried hard to sound indifferent and nonchalant, but there was too much pain and hurt behind her words.

"That was Kelly, the manager there," I said. "I work with many women, and I have private meetings with some of them. That doesn't mean I'm fucking them." That got her attention; she looked up at me with watery eyes.

"I didn't say anything," she said. "I mean, I can't tell you how to..."

"Sara, if I wanted to keep fucking a bunch of women, I wouldn't be with you. We're in a relationship, aren't we?"

"I like to think so," she said.

"If we're in a relationship, then it wouldn't be okay for either one of us to be fucking other people," I said.

"Caius, I don't know if I can... _satisfy_... you," she said staring at her hands in her lap. "I, I've, I've been through a lot."

"I know you've been badly hurt," I said. "And I've tried to be patient. I don't want to push you."

"You have needs," she said sadly. "Needs that I may not be able to fulfill. I've heard about your past, from many people. There's no way you could be satisfied, sexually, with me. I understand if you, _do_, what you've always done. I just hope you don't bring them here."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I wanted to rage at her and ask her why she was basically telling me that she wouldn't have a problem with me cheating on her, but I didn't. She was traumatized. I took some deep breaths to calm down, when I looked back at her, she was staring at me with those deep eyes of hers.

"I'm glad you've brought this up," I said. "Because we clearly need to talk."

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. She looked terrified. "I didn't mean to..."

"Sara, please," I said. "We need to get some things out in the open. Even when I first offered you a place to stay, I hadn't actually intended to stay here with you."

The tears started flowing. She could cry though; I didn't care. We needed to work out the particulars of whatever we had going on.

"Before you came here, I never spent much time in this house. I lived at my condo, downtown, almost exclusively. It's closer to my businesses. This house, and Didy's house, have been more like retreats for me. I'd come when I needed to think or clear my head or just take a break."

She wiped her eyes and nodded her head. I was glad that I had her rapt attention.

"I didn't bring women here at all. Never. You can ask Quinn or any of the staff. I took them to my condo, downtown. The only people who've ever been here are Carlisle and the staff. I wouldn't have asked you to stay if I was going to disrespect you by bringing a parade of women through here. That's not my style."

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I shouldn't have said that." She twisted her hands in her lap.

"You should have though," I said. "This is your home, at least for now. And you need to feel comfortable here. If you've been worried about who I might bring here, if that's what you really think of me, then I need to know."

"I don't know what to think of you," she said as fresh tears rolled down her face. "I just don't understand you. On the one hand, you see women as objects. Just conquests. I know you have strippers down at that night club in your suite, and you probably know call girls and prostitutes too."

"Someone's done her homework on me," I said with a chuckle. She didn't laugh or smile.

"Then on the other hand, you adored your sister, and you work with some bright and confident women. Quinn's very sharp, and look at your friend Linda."

Linda, a very good associate of mine, owned the maternity boutique I'd given Rose the gift card to. She'd once been an assistant to the mayor; the woman knew everything I'd ever needed to know about the city.

Sara continued. "You have a female manager, now that I know who she is, and a female chef down at _Cullen_. When not a lot of upscale restaurants hire women in those positions. You're a perfect gentleman with me. I just don't understand where I fit on your - spectrum - of women."

"You don't," I said. "You're like no one I've ever met. I've never let anyone other than family get this close to me. Ever. You're special to me. You're important."

Her expression softened as she gazed up at me.

"And as far as the women, I don't really know what to say." I shrugged. "For some people, sex is a business, and I don't judge them for that. I do have strippers at my poker games. I don't fuck them. That's not what they're there for. They're entertainment. That's their job; that's what they do. They provide a service for which they are paid very well. Maybe that's an unpopular view among the masses, but I don't really give a shit."

"Obviously," she said with a sad chuckle.

"I've used the services of call girls in the past as well," I said. "Not often, but I have. I see it the same way. They provide a certain service that I made use of. It's not a business I ever wanted to run or get into, but I don't have a problem with the service in and of itself. I know that's not a popular view either."

She seemed to be carefully evaluating everything I said in her head, so I kept talking.

"When I hire people for my businesses, I think about who Didy would hire. She would have been in business if she could, and I think she'd have tried to hire strong women if possible. So maybe I do hire more women. I don't know. It's not something I do on purpose. I just try to get competent people."

"But how do you reconcile that with all the women you've fucked?" she asked, much more animated now. "Everywhere I go people keep warning me about you. I don't even mention you but people have seen us together and it keeps coming up. _He's been with tons of women. Be careful._ That's all I keep hearing."

It bothered me greatly that from the sound of it, people were going out of their way to warn her about me. But it wasn't like they were lying. I had been with a lot of women.

"I don't know what you want me to say," I said. I was growing agitated. I didn't want her to have to deal with my past. "The women I used to fuck and the women I work with are in two different... categories. I guess that's the best way to put it. And you're in a different one. You're special."

She pulled my face into her hands as she pressed her lips to mine.

"Thank you," she said. "For being honest. I know this will be hard, for both of us. But I want this to work."

"I do too," I said. "More than I've wanted almost anything. This is all new to me though. I can't promise I won't mess up."

"Me too," she whispered. She rested her head against my chest and we sat together quietly.

"I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable being more physical than I am now," she said.

"I understand why you feel that way," I said, "but I wish you'd let me show you how good it can be. It doesn't have to hurt you. It_ shouldn't_ hurt unless you want it to."

I felt her smile against my chest. "I'm sure you're an expert, but frankly, I'm terrified."

"With what you've been through, I don't see how you wouldn't be. You just have to trust me at some point. You trusted me enough to stay with me, and that's a big first step."

"Esme thought I was crazy moving in with you," she said. "But in my gut, I knew you wouldn't hurt me. The thought of leaving her, and you, to go back to that place. I couldn't do it."

"You shouldn't do it," I said. "Even I could feel the bad energy when I was there. It's not healthy."

"Why me?" she asked, barely above a whisper as tears spilled from her eyes. "You're so attractive and powerful. You could have anyone you wanted."

I shrugged and gave a bitter chuckle. "I have no idea what you've done to me," I said. She laughed as she wiped her eyes.

"All I know is, I like knowing that you'll be here when I get home in the evening," I said. "I like how strong you are. You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You won't say, but I know what happened to you. I'm not stupid."

She sobbed as she placed her hand over her mouth.

"To go through that, and survive what you did, living in the shadow of that family for all these years to protect your daughter. You have no idea how much respect I have for you."

"Thank you for saying that," she said softly.

"It makes me angry that you'd sit here and basically say you wouldn't have a problem with me going out and fucking other women, then coming home to you. That's what a weak woman would say, and you are not weak."

"I just can't mess this up," she said, not really looking at me or talking to me. "This is my way out. Whatever you needed to do, I was prepared to accept it. Because I can't go back there to live. I can't."

This was a disturbing comment, and further proof that she needed more help than just what I could give her.

"Sara, you shouldn't accept shitty behavior from anyone," I said. "I'm not talking about what you put up with back home. That was a completely different situation. That was a nightmare and you've had to live it for 30 years."

She turned to me again; I was glad I had her attention back.

"I'm telling you right now that there is a high probability of me fucking up," I said. She smiled. "I don't mean by actually fucking other women. Sometimes, I'm not all that great company. I get mad and I yell at people. Shit, just talk to Carlisle one day. He'll happily tell you all about me."

"I just might do that," she said with a chuckle.

"You probably should," I said. "But what I'm saying is, if I do something that hurts you, it's not healthy to just say, 'Oh well, I'll put up with that because he's my escape'. You need to tell me. If you want something, you need to say so."

She nodded her head, but kept staring into her lap.

"I'm telling you again, I work with a lot of women," I said. "So that is something you will have to get used to. But maybe I'll start introducing you to more of them, so you can know them when you see them and not get so upset."

"I'd like that," she said. "If it won't be a problem."

"It won't," I said. "I'm all in with you, Sara. From now on, you're my only woman."

She gave me a dubious look that caused both of us to laugh.

"I didn't say it would be easy," I replied with a chuckle. "This is all new for me too. But I like it. I like how you make me feel. I think we're lucky to have found each other."

She nodded as she wiped her face. "You have no idea how happy you make me. Just being here, away from home, it's like for the first time in my life, I feel free. Like I got out of prison. I almost feel like this is some crazy dream. If it is, I hope I never wake up."

"The whole situation puts me in a bad position," I said. "I gave Carlisle hell for taking up with Rose so quickly, and look at me. This is entirely your fault."

She laughed for quite some time and we talked a bit more. I was glad this discussion happened. It needed to.

"You say you'll be fine, and patient," she said cautiously. "But I'm serious, Caius. I don't know if I'll ever be able to give you what you need. You know what I mean. I don't see how a guy like you could be satisfied with one woman, let alone a woman who..."

She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to. I could finish it for her because I'd wondered the exact same thing: _How could I be satisfied with a woman who'd been raped and was now terrified of sex?_

I sighed. "I know what happened to you, and I'm pretty sure it's as bad as I'm thinking."

She looked away, but nodded her head. I really hated being right all the time.

"Have you ever had counseling about it?"

"No," she whispered. "I had to stay with him, my father made me, so I tried to grin and bear it. I just tried to forget. "

"Kind of impossible considering you were constantly around his family."

"Yeah," she muttered to her lap again. "Even Helen doesn't know what her brother did and how bad it was. She knew there was sex when I turned up pregnant, but she didn't know I didn't have a choice. They covered it up from her too. And I never told her because she's the one who arranged our meeting that night. He'd set the whole thing up; he'd asked her to. But she didn't know what he planned." She was shaking by the time she'd finished. She'd clearly been reliving this for years and years.

Now that she confirmed what had happened, I found myself enraged at the mere thought of Bobby Platt. But as much influence as I had, it was nothing compared to the Platts. The senator wielded too much influence with too many people, which was why his son had escaped any sort of real punishment for what he'd done.

Not all insanely rich men were rapists and abusers; many were good men with ideals and standards. It made me wonder just how a mother and daughter both had fallen victim to the worst of a kind. I bet Jasper would have a lot of insight into that, not that Sara would ever share any parts of her story with him.

There was truly nothing I could do to Bobby Platt that wouldn't somehow be traced back to me. So long as he left her alone from this point forward, he would have no problem from me. But if he didn't, I would end him. No matter the consequences.

"I really think you should talk to someone," I said. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But I think you should. Because you've been through hell, and I don't know how you survived it."

She sat quietly staring into her lap, not saying anything.

"One of the many _many_ women I know," I said, putting emphasis on the word, which caused her to smile. "She does a lot of fundraising for a... crisis... center. They have all sorts of counseling and programs for women who've been through what you have."

She sat stiff as a board as she continued staring at her lap.

"It might be easier for you to talk to someone here in Seattle. Nobody knows your background. And you wouldn't have to say his name if you didn't want to anyway. Places like that are strictly confidential. They have to be to protect the women. I'll text you the name and the phone number and if you want to call, you can, and if not, you can delete my message, how's that sound?"

She gave the slightest of nods before she moved closer and leaned into my side. I put my arm back around her and kissed the top of her head. We sat quietly, reflecting on the heavy but necessary conversation we'd just had. It was Sara who broke the silence.

"I hated seeing you there in that booth," she said. "Today, at_ Cullen. _I figured it was for work. I told myself I wouldn't care if I saw you with other women, but it hurt."

"If I ever see you huddled up in a booth with some guy, I think there might be an incident," I replied as she laughed.

"If we're going to make this work, we'll both have to trust each other," I said more seriously. "And it'll be harder for you than for me, because I'm sure you'll have jealous asses constantly talking about you because you're with me."

She might even have women coming forth to say they'd been with me, just to wave it in her face, but I hoped that wouldn't be the case.

She sighed. "I have thick skin," she said. "But I know it'll be hard. You have nothing to worry about though. Nobody..."

"Don't," I said, interrupting her. I knew exactly what she was about to say. "First of all, you're a very beautiful woman. It wasn't just your sweet laugh that attracted me to you." She smiled.

"Second of all, I know how men operate. Men want what other men have. It's human nature. Whether you like it or not, you've landed the biggest playboy of all. And that will make you even more attractive to some men who'll be dying to know how and why you got me. You will have suitors, trust me."

"They'll never have me," she said with a smirk. "I'm all yours."

"Glad to hear it," I said as we shared a kiss.

"You know, I'm really not trying to come off like some perfect guy," I said. "To be honest, one woman would _not _have been enough to satisfy me when I was younger."

She looked up at me again with a serious expression. I wanted her to understand this.

"But I've faced facts, Sara. I'm 60 years old and I have different needs. My sex drive is not what it was, I'm in bed by midnight almost every night. Hell, I can't even eat fucking tomato sauce anymore without getting heartburn."

She laughed.

"I hate all of those things," I said, "I always loved my old life. But I've accepted that I'm just not that guy anymore. That's how it is. Those are the facts of my life these days, and however much I hate getting older, I'm accepting it. What else can I do?"

"It's hard getting older," she said, nodding her head in agreement. "I feel like I see a new wrinkle every day, and I'm getting aches and pains in places I never knew I had. But I'm also happier right now, here with you and Esme, than I've ever been."

"Good," I said. "I'm glad you're here. Your daughter is too. Who else would fight her battles for her?"

She slapped me on my arm. "Ow," I said, pretending to be hurt.

"Stop judging my daughter," she said. "You hate her, and it's not fair."

"I don't hate her," I said. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"I know that Esme defies me and talks back to me sometimes, and I see that makes you angry, knowing what you know. But she doesn't know how she was conceived, and she never will. You can't judge her for something that's not her fault."

It was eerie how well this woman was learning to read me because she'd hit the nail square on its fucking head. I hated how Esme treated her mother; it made me angry knowing that Sara had basically sacrificed her happiness to keep the girl. The way she treated her mother was fucking disrespectful.

"She would respect you more if she knew," I said.

"I wouldn't want her to ever know something so horrible," she said tearfully.

_Fuck._ I didn't want her to start crying.

"You win," I said. "I will try to stop glaring at your daughter. But she's a fucking brat, just so you know."

She smiled as I wiped away her tears. "She is, but she's mine, and I love her. And you do just as much for Carlisle as I do for Esme so you have no room to talk."

I smiled. I'd move the earth if I needed to for my nephew. We talked for a little while longer before I decided to head up to bed. I had very early meetings in the morning.

"You know," I said before I stood up, "I think sleeping in my bed with me would help you get more comfortable with the physical side of things."

She immediately tensed up beside me.

"I'm not pushing," I said quickly. "You don't have to. I'm just extending the offer. It's a very large bed. And I promise to stay on my side."

"We'll see," she whispered. I kissed her one last time before I went upstairs.

I found the name and number of the women's crisis center and texted it to her before I forgot.

* * *

**Thursday, ****November 17, 2011**

I listened with a shameful amount of anticipation as Sara finished her bedtime routine. Because this time, she was doing it in my bathroom.

Tonight, after finishing up some calls in my office and coming upstairs for bed, I'd been quite surprised to find Sara in my master bath. She'd also placed her hairbrush, a mirror, and several toiletries on the dresser in my bedroom.

"Women still wear those?" I asked when she emerged from my bathroom. I couldn't hide my disappointment at her attire.

She smirked. "Yes. Not all women wear the skimpy lingerie that I'm sure you've grown accustomed to seeing."

I hadn't expected her to be wearing a negligee, but I didn't expect_ this._ She wore a tan-colored pair of silk pajamas. The pants were long as were the sleeves of the shirt. Only a tiny bit of skin below her neck was visible, and she even had socks on. I usually slept in the nude but I did put a pair of briefs on when I saw she'd be spending the night in my room.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked as she rubbed a series of lotions and creams on her hands and face after sitting down at my desk.

"I've decided that I'd like to sleep in here, with you," she said. "But don't get excited. I'm not having sex with you yet."

"Is that so?" I replied, intrigued by her boldness.

"Yes," she replied smugly as she brushed her long red hair. "I don't see the point of continuing to sleep apart. I may be used to being alone, but that doesn't mean I don't get lonely."

"Whatever you like," I said. How the mighty had fallen, I thought with a chuckle. I sat here grinning like an idiot at the mere thought of sleeping, just sleeping, beside a woman I'd been living with for over three months.

She didn't say anything else as she walked around the bed and got in beside me. I couldn't believe how fucking excited that made me. A woman hadn't shared my bed since Mia left five months ago. I hadn't had sex since then either. My poor right hand was going to be overdeveloped soon if I kept this up. Funnily enough, Sara had similar thoughts.

"If I ask you something, will you promise to tell me the complete truth?" she asked.

"I promise," I said.

"By your own admission, you've had a lot of sex," she said. "Have you really not had sex with anyone since you've met me? It's been over 3 months now."

I held up my right hand to show her.

"I'm going to have to get a wrist brace soon. I think I might be getting calluses to," I said as she cackled and laughed. "And for me, it's actually been five months since I've last been with someone."

"Is that the longest you've gone without?" she asked.

"Definitely," I replied.

"That's a lot of pressure," she said. "I might not be worth it."

"Yes, you are," I said. "Besides, you have a very competent and able partner now."

She smiled at me, a little, while she clasped the covers up to her neck and clung to them tightly.

"Thank you, about the condo," she said. "It means a lot that you're willing to let it go."

"It was time," I said.

I'd done some thinking about the condo and decided to sell it. There were too many memories in that place of the younger, wilder me. Whether things worked out with Sara or not, I wasn't that guy anymore.

"I like the new one anyway," I said. "You'll make it much more of a home."

I still wanted to keep a place downtown because it truly was closer to my businesses. So I chose a different unit in one of the newer buildings. I'd asked Sara to decorate it.

"I'll be busy," she said with a grin. "With that place and Esme's."

"You will," I replied.

The Platts, now that they saw Esme and Jasper were really serious, were in talks to buy one of the estates in Carlisle's neighborhood as a surprise wedding present for Esme. Sara would lead the design for that place too. I truly felt sorry for Jasper, they didn't give a damn about what he might want. But then again, that's what he got for getting tangled up with her in the first place.

I smiled at the memory of the Platts' faces the first time they'd seen Carlisle's place. It was evident that they felt that if anyone should have a home like that, it should be their Esme, not my Carlisle. What a wonderful night that first meeting had been.

"Can I ask you a question, since I was so honest with you?"

"Sure," Sara replied.

"When you lived back home, wasn't there anyone you had sex with in all those years?"

She lifted her hand and waved it at me, much like I did earlier, which caused me to laugh quite loudly as she smiled.

"You've been divorced for over twenty years," I said. "That's a long time to have a cold bed."

Her smiling demeanor changed completely when I said that, and I immediately felt bad for going there at all. I literally watched her retreat behind a mental wall.

"Back home, in the circles we travel in, we're very well known. Ann and Robert would have run me out of town, and taken Esme from me in the process, if I had done anything to besmirch the Platt name. They would have jumped at the chance to take my daughter from me. And she's all I have. She's everything to me. No matter who I might have become involved with, from one of the staff to some other man in the community, they would have used it against me. Even when she was grown."

"I apologize," I said quickly. "I just wondered. It wasn't my business."

Her eyes drifted down to my chest before she looked back up and continued. "There are lonely people out there, Caius. And they have their reasons for being that way. Trust me."

She hurriedly rolled over and shut off the lamp on the nightstand beside her. I watched as she arranged the bedding around her and clutched it to herself tightly. I turned off my light too but I watched her for some time in the dark.

Had Sara ever known sexual satisfaction? I doubted it very highly. Had his been the only touch she'd ever known?

As sure as my name was Caius, I knew that Sara would be in my life for some time. And I wanted that, more than anything. Clearly, I had no interest in my former life with its revolving door of women anymore. That's how I'd been so comfortable with Mia for so long. I'd liked the routine, my mind just hadn't wanted to admit it.

I wanted to show Sara a great time, for the rest of our lives together. I would make her happy, and she would make me that way too. She was a tough lady and I wanted her by my side.

Slowly, very slowly, I scooted over to her in bed and spooned her from behind. Her entire body tensed up as I did.

Still very slowly, I moved her hair aside and carefully placed a single kiss on her neck. Then, I slid my arm over her hip and placed my hand over hers.

"I'll never hurt you, Sara," I whispered. "I promise."

She gave the slightest of nods before she wove her fingers into mine.

That was the first night I understood how much I cared what happened to Sara Platt. I cared a lot.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed Chapter 2; there's one more to go. That one may take a week or so to get done. I need to flesh out one more section.**

**As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **

**Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight.**_** I'm just playing mix and match with her characters. I am submitting this un-beta'd. **

* * *

**The Wednesday Dinner Thing: **

**What's Mine is Mine, Chapter 3**

**Caius POV**

**Saturday****, December 17, ****2011**

"_Doesn't he look peaceful asleep like that?" _

"_He does. You'd never know he strikes fear in the hearts of men."_

There was a round of giggling. How odd.

"_I never realized his hair was so white. It looks great with his skin; he's not as pale as Carlisle." _

"_He does have great hair, and it looks so good cropped like he keeps it."_

"_He's so handsome. It's easy to see how..."_

"_Come out of there before you wake him up! He's exhausted. Let him rest!"_

"_You're the one yelling, Rose."_

"_Out! Now!"_

There were many more whispers and giggles before the room went silent again. How strange. In the many dreams I'd had about women over the years, I didn't often imagine them whispering and talking about me. There wasn't usually much talking involved at all.

I yawned a little, never opening my eyes. I had no idea where I was. What I did know was that I was too comfortable, much too comfortable, to attempt to move a muscle. So I didn't. How good it felt to rest.

"_He looks so content. I don't get to see him like this often. He's doing too much. I've really been worried. He'll never stop though." _

"_He won't. He's been so busy the last few weeks. If it wasn't for _Cullen_, I'm not sure he'd be eating at all. When he gets home, he gets right into bed."_

"_He cares too much; he's a perfectionist. He's always been like that."_

"_You would know."_

"_His hard work is paying off though._ Cullen_ got a great little mention in the food section last week. I know you saw it."_

"_I did. He showed it to me. He was so proud."_

"_I'm glad he has you. He didn't have much of a home life before."_

"_I'm glad he asked me to stay."_

"_He loves you. He may not ever tell you, but he does. Hell, he's only just started saying it to me, and I'm the closest person to him."_

"_I know how he feels about me. He's been kinder to me than you could possibly understand."_

"_Maybe he's getting soft in his old age."_

"Or maybe he has people in his life who won't shut the hell up when he's trying to sleep."

I opened my eyes after they rudely woke me up with all their thoughts and feelings. Carlisle and Sara ignored my tone and laughed like I'd told the funniest joke they'd ever heard.

"There's the uncle I know and love," Carlisle said with a huge grin.

I sat up a little to respond, but grimaced when my stiff muscles protested. I needed to get up. This recliner, built right into the couch in Carlisle's library, would pull me right back in to neverland if I didn't.

Slowly, I stood and stretched. I felt their eyes on me the whole time. Carlisle grimaced when he heard the cracking of my joints.

"That's how I feel," I said, smiling as he watched me.

"I told you this was not a good week to start your workouts again," Sara said as she too looked on in concern.

"You were right," I replied, too tired to argue.

I'd been struggling to juggle everything in my life lately, and my fitness routine had fallen by the wayside. As such, I'd made a point to work out with my trainer twice this week. It wouldn't do for my body to become soft. I was well aware that my appearance went hand in hand with my image. I needed to maintain my tough edge, and hard body, at all times.

"Did I miss the dinner?" I asked after I yawned.

"Yes, you did," Sara said.

"And for once, nobody lingered," Carlisle said. "Everybody needed to get back to their own Christmas preparations."

"But it was great fun," Sara said warmly with a blinding smile that completely disarmed me. "They all asked about you and said they'd see you soon."

"Shame," I said as they laughed at me again. These two knew me very well; they knew I wasn't upset in the least.

Rose and Carlisle wanted to have one last gathering with their friends before everyone got so involved with their own individual families, many of whom would soon be arriving both for Christmas and for Isabella and Emmett's wedding.

All of the couples were invited: Esme and Jasper, Alice and Edward, Bella and Emmett, and Jake and Leah, as well as some local family members like Sara and myself, Rose's sister, Victoria, Alice and Edward's little girl, Tia, and both sets of Emmett's parents.

Carlisle and I never made a big deal over Christmas. We usually tried to go out to dinner and we exchanged gifts, but that was it. The holidays were always hard for us even so many years after Didy died. She'd always loved this time of year and it was sad for us without her.

But we couldn't help but be affected by Rose. She glowed these days, and not just because of her pregnancy. She clearly loved the holidays, and reveled in the home she'd made with my nephew. She also enjoyed having Victoria back; those two were very close. All of the other couples seemed equally excited by their first holiday season together as friends.

Sara, like Rose, practically glowed with happiness too. She had Esme back in her life and she was away from the prison she used to call a home. Sara, Esme, and Rose had turned all of our homes into mini-Christmas wonderlands.

I'd been looking forward to tonight, until I slept right through it. I'd come into Carlisle's library for a little privacy when I received a phone call I needed to take. I sat down, got a little too comfortable in the seat as I talked, and that's all I remember.

"Good to see you up," Rose said as she entered the room.

"I'm so sorry I missed dinner," I said. I knew she would not be happy with me. She'd insisted that I come in the first place.

"Bullshit," she replied. Carlisle and Sara laughed and I grinned too.

"Could I talk to you? Alone?" Rose asked.

"Sure," I replied. For one of the few times ever in my life, I was genuinely nervous. Rose was not a woman to be trifled with.

I sat back down in a less comfortable seat near Carlisle's desk; I didn't want to risk falling asleep again. Rose pulled over a nearby chair and sat facing me.

"I'll just go and heat some food for you," Sara said. "Because you need to eat." She left the room followed by Carlisle who closed the door on the way out. He glanced between us nervously before he left.

"Why do I feel like I'm in the principal's office?" I asked.

"Because you've been a bad boy and I'm here to scold you." Rose smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Uh oh. What have I done?" I asked, trying to keep things light.

"Don't take this the wrong way," she said, "but you're not getting any younger."

I laughed. "Thanks. I'm well aware."

She smiled, more warmly this time. "I didn't bring you here to call you an old geezer, even though you are," she said. I laughed again. Only Rose.

"You're still hot," she said. "I had to pull the girls out of here tonight. They were drooling all over you."

I couldn't help but smile. "I try," I replied. It was her turn to laugh.

We stared at each other for a few moments before she turned serious again.

"Caius, I want you to slow down," she said. "I know your businesses mean the world to you. You have a lot of people working for you and depending on your success. I know that drives you. But you have family now."

I immediately interrupted. "I've always..."

"You've always had Carlisle, and your sister when she was alive," she said softly. "I know."

I sat back a little more appeased.

"But you have _me_ now, and Sara. Carlisle and I see how serious you two are. Esme says her mom's never been so happy."

"Rose, I appreciate where you're going with this," I said. "I know I need to get a better handle on my schedule. It's just a busy time of the year."

"For a man like you, there's never a slow time," she said. "CC says he's never seen you this tired before. And not just tonight; you've been like this for weeks now. He's worried, and I am too."

"You shouldn't worry," I replied. "Especially not in your condition." She rolled her eyes and I had to laugh. Rose was no delicate flower, and she didn't like for anyone to treat her like she was.

"Bad choice of words," I said as she laughed.

"I know I have to start letting some things go," I admitted. "I'm having a hard time understanding how it all got so out of control. The restaurant shouldn't have thrown off my schedule anywhere near as much as it has."

"It's not the restaurant," she said. "It's your life. You have one now."

"I've always made time for social activities," I replied with a smirk.

"You made time for fucking," she said bluntly. "You didn't make time for real relationships."

"Fair point," I replied.

"Whether I wanted to or not, I've really grown to love and respect you," she said.

I smiled. It felt good to hear Rose say that, especially when I'd been so awful to her in the beginning.

"You were a real dick to me at first," she said.

"I'm very sorry," I said. "You know I am. I've told you."

"I know," she said. "You only treated me that way because you saw me as a threat to Carlisle. I get it now. And I know that you'll fight for me, and for Dannah, just as hard." She rubbed her stomach lovingly.

I gasped. I knew they were having a girl, but Carlisle hadn't told me her name. Or if he did, I couldn't remember. I had been too busy.

"Dannah? You picked a name?" I asked eagerly.

Rose nodded and smiled. "Yes, we have. I'm sure CC wanted to tell you himself, but you've been hard to pin down lately. He misses you."

I rubbed my eyes and sighed. She was right. Completely right.

"He picked Dannah," she said. "It's from the Bible."

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked as she chuckled. The boy was obsessed with religion; always had been. "I like it. It's different."

"I do too," she said as her eyes began to water. "I think it works well with the middle name I picked too. _Didyme. _Dannah Didyme."

Before I realized what I was doing, I'd stood and pulled Rose into a hug. She hugged me tightly back and I felt her tears on my shirt. I didn't care.

"Thank you," I said as I released her and stared down at her. "It's beautiful. You didn't have to."

"I know how much she meant to you and to Carlisle," she said as she wiped her eyes. "And she's a part of the baby too."

I nodded and we both sat back down. I felt very overcome by my emotions. I hadn't expected this at all.

"This is what I mean, Caius," she said. "Your family is growing. There's only going to be more people to love you from now on, not less. And we want you around. When Dannah's here, I want you to spend time with her. I don't want you just dropping by for five or ten minutes in between meetings when you can. She'll need you. We all will. We need you now."

I leaned forward and held my head in my hands as I thought over what she said. Didy would have said the same things to me, almost word for word. She always hated how much I worked, even though she understood why I did.

I was the only blood relative Carlisle knew in the whole world. He needed me, even if he was a grown man in his own right. I'd been neglecting him for close to a year now. And now there was Sara, and Rose, and soon there would be baby Dannah. I'd never had to make decisions like these before, choices between work and family.

I sighed. Life was so much more complicated with all these people in it. People I cared about.

"Didy would have liked you," I said eventually as I looked up at Rose.

"That would have been nice in the beginning," she said. "Someone to like me."

I laughed. "Oh, she would have been worse than me at first."

"Impossible," Rose said with a chuckle.

"If you think _I'm_ protective of him..." I laughed and shook my head. "She would have been as suspicious of you as I was. But like me, she would have been happy to be wrong about you. And I am."

"There were days I wanted some _bad_ shit to happen to you," Rose said as I laughed.

"The feeling was mutual, trust me." We grinned at each other. This was the perfect woman for my nephew. Strong, fearless, and beautiful. That reminded me of something I'd been meaning to tell her.

"Linda told me that you turned down her offer," I said with a grin.

"I'm not really the modeling type," she said. "I've never wanted to get by on my looks. That's my mom, not me."

Rose had finally visited Linda's maternity boutique. Linda asked her to model for some ads for the store, but Rose had politely declined.

"Still, you'd have been a vast improvement over the women she ended up using," I said.

Rose grabbed her stomach and shrieked with laughter. "Aww. Listen to you. There was a time when I never thought you'd speak so nicely to me."

"There was a time that I vowed I wouldn't."

"What changed?" she asked, suddenly very serious. "It wasn't just the baby."

"No, it wasn't," I agreed.

I took a few moments to think of a proper reply. "First of all, I realized how much you meant to Carlisle. And I knew that if I kept being so hostile to you, I'd lose him. I couldn't have that."

"I do love him," she said. "I hope you see that now. He's changed my whole life, and not because of his money."

"I know," I said. "I think it was more your work ethic than anything that convinced me. I thought you were out for Carlisle's money, but then you kept on working, and I didn't really see any increase in your shopping or spending. Quite the opposite really."

She smiled. "I like working," she said. "I always have."

"But surely you could take some time off now," I said looking at her ever-expanding stomach. Carlisle, Sara, and I were all worried that she was pushing herself too hard.

"I feel good," Rose replied. "I'm taking it week by week. Unlike other people in this room, if I get too overwhelmed, I_ will_ take a break."

I was beginning to see that this woman looked out for me as much as for my nephew.

"I'm serious," she said. "Make some time."

I nodded slightly and sighed. "Sara basically ordered me to take next week off." She'd ambushed me one evening almost exactly like Rose just had.

"Good," Rose said smugly. "At least you're listening. And while you're off, you can start making plans. You always say you have great people working for you. Start trusting them. Give them more responsibility."

I could definitely do that. The problem for me was actually relinquishing control... to anyone. I had plenty of thinking to do over the next week.

"You know, I think I liked it better when you bit your tongue around me," I said. Rose cackled with laughter.

"I've never been afraid of you, and I'm not about to start now," she replied. She stood and held out her hand to me. I took it and stood as well.

"Come on," she said. "You need to eat."

"I'm really not..."

"Doesn't matter," she said. "You'll eat something."

"Yes, ma'am," I replied as she smiled up at me.

"Thank you, Rose," I said seriously. "Not many people have the guts to tell me when they think I'm doing something wrong. I promise I'll work on my schedule."

"We like having you around. You're so much more than just a pretty face," she said as I laughed again.

"We really missed you at dinner," she added. "Nobody tells jokes or insults people like you do."

"Hey, we all bring something to the table, right?" I said, still laughing all the while. "These are my skills."

"That's why we love you," she said with her hand on the doorknob. "C'mon, I'll scrounge up something for you to eat. We both know Sara doesn't know shit about heating up food."

Again, I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in weeks. When Carlisle first told me he'd married Rose, I'd wondered what I'd done to deserve her in my life. I wondered the same thing now, but for _very_ different reasons. I was lucky, incredibly fucking lucky, to have this remarkable woman on my side.

* * *

**Tues****day, Janua****ry 17, 2012**

"Very nice," Carlisle said as he walked around my new Mercedes.

"I needed this for the baby," I said. "I can't drive her around in any of my sports cars."

"No, of course not," Carlisle said. "The M class is very safe. This will work well."

We took a little more time examining the sleek ML63 AMG. I didn't own any other SUVs, they weren't my thing. But again, I needed something sturdy for Dannah.

"Do you have time to help me take the Christmas tree down?" I asked when we walked inside.

"I have plenty of time, but not for that," he said with a chuckle as he shook his head.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Do not, I repeat,_ do not_, touch that tree," he said. "I about got my ass handed to me last weekend for the same exact thing." I was very confused.

"But I was going to surprise Sara by having it down before she gets back," I replied.

"If she didn't take it down yet herself, or ask the staff to do it, then she wants it up," Carlisle said.

"You sound very sure about this," I replied.

"Apparently, taking down Christmas trees is a big emotional thing for women," he said. "I talked to Edward and he says that Alice never takes theirs down until almost the end of January. He said she bit his head off the first year they lived together and she caught him taking the ornaments off."

"I had no idea," I said. "I don't remember Didy making such a fuss over the tree each year." But when I thought about it, I did remember a vague conversation or two about when all the Christmas decorations would come down.

"Trust me on this one," he said. "There's a reason they all got artificial trees except for Bella. A real one_ has_ to come down by a certain time."

Now that he said that, I recalled that Sara had been adamant about having an artificial tree and I couldn't understand why. It made no difference to me but I thought she'd have wanted a real one.

"I will trust you on this one," I said. "I didn't know."

"Have you heard from Sara?" he asked. "When will they be back?"

"She said Thursday," I replied. "I talked to her this morning and she didn't say any different. But I think it'll be sooner. Neither one of them will last in that house that long. "

Sara and Esme had gone back to their home in Ohio over the weekend. Sara had decided to stay in Seattle for good. The two of them returned to the home to ship some of their more prized possessions here, and make arrangements with the staff who would be let go. Sara and Esme were giving them hefty severance packages to thank them for their years of service. Even Sara admitted they'd been her only company at times even when she'd been difficult to live with. They'd keep on the groundskeeper and his wife to keep tabs on the house and make arrangements for its maintenance.

"Is this stuff she's already shipped here?" Carlisle asked, pointing to the stack of boxes in the den.

"Yes," I replied.

"Guess she's staying then," he said as he smirked at me. "Good job not running her off, old man."

I laughed. "Sometimes, I'm surprised myself. But I like having her here."

And I did. Sara, like me, was used to being alone. She was very independent and she didn't need or expect me to entertain her or occupy her time. So far, I rather enjoyed her presence in my home and in my life.

"Are these toys for Tia?" Carlisle asked as he looked in the corner of the den.

"Yes, they were for Christmas," I said quickly. "She wasn't sure which to give her; that's the stuff she didn't."

Carlisle seemed to accept that complete and total lie as he walked back into the kitchen with me. Sara did buy several Christmas gifts for Tia, from the both of us. But those toys Carlisle had just noticed had never been intended for her.

Sara never told me if she'd contacted the women's crisis center, and I'd never asked. But being the observant person that I was, I certainly hadn't missed how several times - always on a Tuesday - she'd eaten dinner quietly with red-rimmed eyes. She'd sought a little more contact from me on those evenings as well.

The last few weeks she'd been a little more upbeat, and I'd noticed toys, toiletries, and gift bags in the den where she'd set up an office of sorts. I suspected all of that stuff was for the women and children she encountered at the center. Even though she never told me she actually went there, and I didn't ask. Regardless, I was proud of her.

"Is she selling the house?" Carlisle asked.

"No," I replied. "She says she'll leave it to Esme."

"It's nice what she's doing for the staff," he said. "I imagine that she was, uh, not always, um, _easy_, to live with."

I guffawed. "When you put it that way."

"Will she get property here?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "She seems very happy right here with me."

"Will you marry her someday?" Carlisle asked suddenly.

"No," I replied. "She doesn't want to ever marry again and I can't say that I blame her. It's not an idea I'm fond of myself truthfully. I hope we'll stay together though. I like having her here."

He nodded, but clearly had more that he wanted to say. "Don't get angry," he said, "but I've been wanting to know how you're _managing._ You know what I mean."

I smiled. "How I'm managing with just one woman."

"Yes," he replied. "You've had so many, I worry that..."

"As I said to Sara when she asked the same thing, I'm in a different place now," I said. "First of all, I don't have the drive that I used to. Not even close. And that's fucking frustrating sometimes."

"Do you have to take pills?" he asked. "I'm sorry, but I'm dying to know."

"No," I said. "I still have _some_ drive and I don't like taking unnecessary medication."

He nodded. "Only your vitamins," he said.

"You know me well," I replied with a grin. "As busy as I've been I wouldn't have had time for more sex anyway. So bottom line, if I had more drive and more time, then yes, being with only one woman might have been a problem. But as it is, I'm fine."

He didn't need to know that I still had not had sex with Sara. Not that I was counting the days or anything.

"Good," he said with a real smile. "You have no idea how much the topic of you and Sara has been discussed."

I laughed. "I'm sure everyone has an opinion."

"_Everyone_," he replied, and I knew he meant his "gang".

"Since you've been so nosy about my sex life, I'll ask about yours," I said as he grinned sheepishly. "Everything okay? I hear it can go either way with pregnant women: no sex or tons of it."

"I have no complaints," he said as we laughed together.

Further discussion was halted by the arrival of Sara who burst into the house and flung her arms around me.

"I missed you," she gushed as she smiled her blinding smile up at me.

"I missed you too," I replied as I held her to me and kissed her. "Why didn't you call me? I would have picked you up."

"I got drafted for that," Jasper said as he walked inside with Esme. We greeted them too.

"_You_ rode in the Avalanche?" Carlisle said to Sara as we all laughed.

"It was an experience," she replied as she continued to smile at me.

"I could use a little help with the luggage," Jasper said. Carlisle and I followed him outside.

"How were they allowed to fly with all this?" Carlisle asked as we stared at all of Sara and Esme's luggage. The bags and cases filled the truck bed of Jasper's Avalanche.

"No idea," Jasper replied, "just take 'em."

He practically threw Sara's bags to the ground.

"Just give her time," I said as Carlisle and I tried not to laugh in his face. "She'll warm up to you eventually."

"I ain't used to people hatin' me for no good reason," Jasper said indignantly. "I been nothin' but nice to her."

"Uncle Cai's right," Carlisle said before I could reply. "You have to give her time, and it might take a while. That's what Rose made me realize with this guy here." He pointed to me as I laughed.

"It's hard," Carlisle continued. "Sara's a lot like my uncle. I'm convinced it's why they get along so well."

Again, I grinned, but I was quite interested in my nephew's perspective.

"I'm used to seein' a problem and tryin' to work it out," Jasper said after he sighed. "I can't handle this constant... nastiness. It ain't healthy. She's fine in front of Esme, but if she gets so much as two seconds with me alone, she makes some little crack or comment. That woman is a real..."

"Jasper," I interrupted before he could say something he might regret. "I think you should listen to Carlisle. In the beginning, I hated Rose. It took months for her to prove to me that she really loved him for who he was. Now, we have a great relationship."

"They do," Carlisle said. "I think she loves him more than me now."

We smiled at each other and laughed while Jasper shook his head.

"Esme's all Sara has," I said. "And even if she wants her daughter to be happy, which she does, part of her sees you as taking her daughter away. That's the part that's lashing out at you. You just have to give her time."

"I know that," he said reluctantly. "It's just hard as hell. Real hard."

"It is," I said. "But she'll get over it... eventually."

"My mother-in-law loves me," Carlisle said. "I don't know what your problem is Doc."

Finally, Jasper laughed and we took all of Sara's luggage inside. The kids left about fifteen minutes later.

"You must have had a good trip if you voluntarily rode with Jasper," I said as I held Sara in my arms again after a lingering welcome-home kiss.

"Esme arranged it before I had a chance to make any plans. She keeps trying to force us together."

"Give him a chance," I said. "Your daughter could've done so much worse. Jasper's a good guy."

"I had a great trip," she said, ignoring my praise of Jasper completely. "It was nice to see that house in the rearview mirror of my life."

"Did you see Robert and Ann?" I asked. "What do they think of your move?"

"They could barely stop fucking smiling long enough to talk," she said. "Ann might send you a check to thank you for getting me out of her sight."

I guffawed. While I laughed, she stood and turned off the ceiling lights and turned on the Christmas tree lights. They shone in the twilight.

"I was going to surprise you and have that tree down by the time you got back, but Carlisle said I shouldn't."

She looked stricken as she sat down next to me. "Why would you do that? What's wrong with it? It's beautiful. Esme and I worked so hard on it."

"It is beautiful, but how long is it supposed to stay up?"

"This was the best Christmas I've ever had," she replied with a faraway expression. "I'd like to leave it up another week. Just until the 25th," she said. "That'll be a full month. Helen still has hers."

She sat straight up.

"I need to call her," she said to me apologetically as she stood. "I'll be right back."

I rolled my eyes. Even though they'd just seen each other, I knew that would be a long conversation. I decided to go up and have a bath to soothe my aching muscles. I'd had a long busy day before Carlisle arrived and I was even more tired now. I'd taken more baths this last year than I had in my entire life; I usually preferred showers. But there was nothing like the jets in the whirlpool to relieve some of my aches and pains.

"Be right back my ass," I mumbled as I listened to Sara downstairs, laughing and talking with Helen. I replied to some text messages and e-mails while I waited for the tub to fill and heat.

"Yesss," I said, moaning when I sank down into the warm tub. As the jets went to work on my tired body, I stared out of the massive bathroom window overlooking the back of the house and the Sound beyond. I reflected on my life as it stood today.

In taking Rose's advice, I had been re-evaluating my businesses in an effort to start shifting duties. _Cullen_, because it was so new, really did require most of my focus; that much I'd decided. With each of the others, I could definitely reduce my time commitments. I would still handle negotiations with suppliers and monitor the money religiously like I already did. But I thought it might keep the staff on their toes even more if they had less of an idea of when I'd show up to check on them.

I looked forward to spending more time with Carlisle; he'd been thrilled when I asked him to stop by this evening. There would be more time for Rose and Dannah when she arrived, and golf and poker, and new friends like Emmett's father, Steve. I hadn't realized just how much I'd neglected in my pursuit of the almighty dollar in recent years.

And of course there was Sara. I hadn't been prepared for how empty the house would feel with her gone, or how thankful and grateful I was that she'd come home early today. Sara injected life into this place, and into me as well.

I'd come to understand how I'd adjusted so easily to my essentially sexless current existence. While the sex I'd had over the years had been amazing, it wasn't the actual release that I'd been seeking. What all those women had given me was a total distraction from my life.

When I was finding them, meeting them, and fucking them, I wasn't thinking about how much it hurt to see Didy's face twisted in agony from the crippling pain, or the constant longing in Carlisle's eyes when he watched other kids with their parents. I didn't have to think about assessing the competition for my businesses or navigating the tricky local politics where there were always people looking for ways to have their palms greased with my money.

My adult life had always been a fight, for my businesses and for my family. And the women helped me forget and feel good all at once. But time had changed so much in my life. Didy was gone physically, but she was with me every day in spirit, and Carlisle had grown into a successful young man. My businesses, thanks to all of my tireless efforts, had stellar reputations and were more successful than ever. I knew that _Cullen_ would be too in a few years.

Today my reality was different though; I simply didn't have those old fights and struggles anymore. My businesses were established. I wanted to enjoy my life now, not be distracted from it. So I would wait for Sara, and continue to take my own _needs _into hand as it were. I once told her that she'd be worth the wait, and I meant that.

I climbed out of the tub, toweled dry, and put on briefs and a robe. My body felt incredible after my long soak. I hastily made my way downstairs and found Sara in the den, standing in front of the wall of luggage and boxes. She looked up and smiled when she saw me.

"Sorry, I was trying to decide..."

I pulled her slight body to mine and silenced her, first with a gentle kiss but then with a deeper one with much more intensity.

"I missed you, Sara," I said as we pressed our heads together and tried to catch our breath. "I love you."

She gasped and smiled at me. I hadn't said the words to her before, nor had she to me. But I needed her to know how I felt. After a moment, her smile turned into a smirk.

"Of course you do," she said. "You didn't need to come barreling down the stairs to tell me." I threw back my head and laughed. I felt her soft hands run down my neck and over my chest.

"I love you too," she said with a far more serious expression. Her eyes glowed as they gazed into mine. "More than you could ever know."

Sometimes I wished I had met Sara earlier; we could have had so much more time together. But I knew that if I'd known her any sooner, I would have fucked it up. I'd never been ready for love before. I was now.

* * *

**Friday, ****February 17, 2012**

I stepped out of the shower, dried off, and walked to the dresser to grab a pair of briefs. I noticed that I had a message on my cell.

"I hope it's not the baby," I said aloud as I snatched up the phone and checked the message.

**nothing wrong. pls call when you can. carlisle**

"If nothing was wrong, he wouldn't be calling," I muttered as I dialed my nephew. He answered on the first ring.

"How's St. Thomas?" he asked.

"Fine. What's wrong?"

"Did you read my message?" he asked. "I said nothing's wrong."

"You wouldn't be calling me on vacation if nothing was wrong. What is it? Is it Rose? The baby? Have you..."

"I knew I shouldn't have left that message in the first place," he said with a sigh.

"But you did, so I ask again. What's wrong?"

"Rose is fine, don't worry," he said. "But she_ is_ the reason I'm calling."

"Tell me," I demanded. "You're making me nervous."

"Yesterday, Rose was out with Alice, and they picked Tia up from preschool. Some of the other mothers started talking to Rose about how hard it is to get into some of the private schools, even for preschool programs. They said we should start making plans, even now. Is that true? Dannah's not even born yet."

"It's so funny you bring this up," I replied as I sat on the bed. "When I got the gift card for Rose, Linda told me that you two would have to start looking into toddler programs soon."

"What the hell is a toddler program?" Carlisle yelled. "She's not even here yet!"

"I had every intention of looking into all of this when she mentioned it," I replied. "But like so many other things, I completely forgot. And I would assume that a toddler program is what it says. I'd never heard of it before Linda mentioned it though."

"Could you talk to her?" he asked. "Or set up a meeting or something so I could ask her some questions?"

"I'll set up a lunch meeting at _Cullen_ when I get back," I said. "Let me know a day that's good for you and Rose. Linda would love to see her again. I'll ask Sara too. It'll be good for her to hear, if Esme and Jasper ever have kids."

"Thanks," he said and I could hear the relief in his voice. "I wouldn't even begin to know who to ask and Rose won't stop talking about it. All this baby stuff is brand new to me and I thought we'd at least have a year before we had to start worrying about any sort of preschool."

"Didy handled all the arrangements for your schooling," I said. "I'm sure it's a whole different world now."

"I don't know how people manage," Carlisle said. "I've never been around babies. I'm worried about everything. And then when Rose started going on and on about all this shit, it was all I could do not to scream. Having kids is stressful. And mine's not even here yet."

"Calm down," I said quietly. He was getting much too upset.

"Rose said that Alice barely got Tia into her school," he said, too worked up to heed my warning. "She only did because Demetri knew someone."

"First of all, I'm sure it was harder getting Tia into school because it was the middle of the school year. And I'm sure they put her in a good school; that child is very bright. A top program, plus the timing, probably made it very difficult to get her in without some help."

I'd been around Tia with Rose and with Edward several times. The girl was shy, but it was obvious that she was very advanced for her three young years.

"It is a good school," Carlisle said. "There's some special program, some name Rose kept calling it, but I can't remember. She said so much. Rose loved Tia's school, but she said you have to be three to go there."

"Carlisle, we're Cullens," I said firmly. "We'll have time to research this and get Dannah in wherever we want her to go."

"It shouldn't be like this though," he said bitterly. "We're planning for school for a child who isn't even born yet. It's fucking ridiculous."

"If that's how it is, then that's how it is," I said. "I agree that it seems a bit early, but I'm glad we know now. If getting Dannah into the schools we want is a game, then we will win. Pull yourself together. Find out when Rose can meet next week and I'll set it up with Linda."

"I will," he said with a long sigh. "I really appreciate this, Uncle Cai. I'm sorry I lost it there."

He was clearly distraught, but I was excited. There was nothing I loved more than a good challenge.

"Understandable, son," I replied. "I have it easy. I can just pop in on you and Rose, check on you and leave. But you're there, living all this, when you've never been around pregnant women or babies before. I think you're holding up well. Stay strong, keep the faith, and all that jazz."

Finally, that got him laughing. "So really, how's the trip?" he asked. "I didn't mean to keep you from Sara. I just needed to talk."

"She's down at the spa," I replied. "And so far, we're having a great time. I've been itching to go check out some of the greens in the area, but I guess I'm not really here for golf."

"No, you're not," he said as he laughed. "I'll let you get back to your lovers' retreat."

I chuckled. "Talk to you soon."

For Valentine's day, I wanted to travel with Sara. I thought about Paris, but decided against it. I instead decided on somewhere warm where I could possibly get the reserved Ms. Platt to show a little skin. I suppose it could be said that we were also celebrating our sort of anniversary. We'd been dating for about six months now.

I tossed my phone on the nightstand and stood to get a pair of briefs like I'd planned to in the first place. I wasn't aware, however, that I had an audience.

Sara stood in the doorway, purse in hand, frozen as her eyes traveled up and down my nude body. I was quite proud of my body and always had been; were it not for Sara, I probably would walk around the bedroom nude more often. I didn't out of respect for her. But today, she'd caught me.

"Like what you see?" I asked with a smirk. There was no way I was going to apologize for being nude.

My voice shook her from whatever she was thinking. She quickly looked away and began to stammer.

"Caius, I, sorry, I thought, didn't mean, um, didn't know..."

I stepped closer to her and grinned. "It's just my hot body, Sara. Nothing to be embarrassed about." She looked up from the floor to my face and rolled her eyes.

"You are so vain," she said as she laughed.

"Look at me," I said, still grinning. "Why shouldn't I be?"

She rolled her eyes again. "You're incorrigible," she said. I noticed that her eyes couldn't help drifting back down to my dick. He liked the attention.

She quickly recovered herself and looked back up to my face.

"If you and your hot body could step aside, I'd like to come into the bedroom."

I did as she asked and she walked in, though I didn't think she remembered what she wanted. She looked flustered as she walked from the closet to the bathroom then back out again. Eventually, she put her purse on the dresser and sat down on the bed trying her damnedest not to look at me. I knew I shouldn't push her, but I was feeling naughty today.

"How was the spa?" I asked as I sat down on my side of the bed and leaned back against the pillows in my still completely nude state.

"Amazing," she said.

"Your skin looks great," I said. "You look very refreshed."

She turned to look at me to reply but again got distracted by my not-so-little friend.

"Could you put that thing away?" she asked finally, smirking as her eyes lingered on it.

I laughed. "Why? He's not bothering anything. He actually seems to like you." My dick was loving this little game as evidenced by the fact that it was getting to attention a little faster than it had in ages.

"I wouldn't be so _cocky _if I were you," she said. We both laughed.

"Look at you making dirty puns. How far you've come," I said.

"Come?" she replied with a raised eyebrow. "A little lame, don't you think?" Again, we laughed. Once more her eyes drifted downward and she stared at me unabashedly for several long moments.

"May I touch you?" she asked in a whisper.

I paused. I certainly didn't want her to think I did this on purpose. I really had been intending to get dressed when I got Carlisle's message. Still, she didn't have to ask, but she did.

"Only if you want," I replied as I stretched completely out on the bed with my back and shoulders against the pillows. My dick was beginning to strain now it was so excited. This would be the most action I'd ever had from Sara. We'd progressed to heavier kissing and petting, but always with clothes on. Never like this.

She stared at me for a few moments with a hungry expression. I knew that look very well. She turned away, then stood and removed her shoes, hiked up her sundress, and climbed back onto the bed until she was right beside me with her legs tucked under her.

With shaky hands she reached out to me. She used one hand to slowly drag her nails lightly across my lower stomach, while she carefully wrapped the other around my aching cock.

When I inhaled sharply, she looked up. "That feels incredible," I said.

I thought some encouragement might help her. I didn't want to push her but I did _not _want her to stop. I thought talking to her might help.

"I love that dress on you," I said. "It's nice to see your shoulders out." She laughed lightly and looked up at me, but didn't let go.

"Thank you," she said. "I bought it yesterday. It seemed more appropriate than any of the dresses I brought with me."

Sara's pale green dress came to just above her knees and featured a busy print with large white flowers. The material was loose and flowy toward the bottom, but was twisted and draped around the neck exposing her shoulders. It was the least conservative thing I'd ever seen her wear and was further evidence that I made the right decision in bringing her here to a warmer vacation spot.

I wanted to guide her hand but I decided to let her _play_ at her own pace; I didn't want to push her at all and risk triggering any bad memories of anything that bastard might have made her do when they were married. She'd started a very light stroking as she acquainted herself with penis. She stopped when I pushed up the hem of her dress and softly ran my fingers along her thigh.

"Is this okay?" I asked.

"Yes," she whispered.

"You've touched me," I said. "I would like to touch you. Would you let me? I won't hurt you, I promise."

I could see the hesitation in her eyes. She wanted me as badly as I wanted her in this moment, but that fear was there too. She let go of my cock and removed her hand from my stomach as she stared down at me. After what felt like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, she moved away from me and stood.

With her head down and her eyes closed, she lifted her dress off to reveal a plain pair of beige panties with a matching plain strapless bra. I drank in her exposed body. This was the most I'd ever seen of it. My eyes took in every inch of creamy skin on her long thin frame.

"You're so beautiful," I said as I stared at her. Like always, my voice seemed to break through whatever she was thinking and she looked up with watery eyes filled with pain.

"You say you won't hurt me," she whispered. "You promised."

"I did, and I won't," I said. I thought about getting off of the bed to help her but she needed to do this at her own pace. This time, she never took her eyes from mine as she stepped out of her panties and removed her bra. After a final long stare, she looked down and climbed into bed beside me, lying flat on her back as tears poured from her eyes.

I moved closer so that my body was flush against hers. I wanted her so badly I felt like I could explode. But I couldn't rush this. I wouldn't. This time was too important.

I tried to wipe away her tears but they just kept coming.

"Sara, we don't have to do this," I said as I stroked her face and hair. "If you're this upset..."

She shook her head and took a gasping breath.

"Please, Caius," she said, "I want some good memories. I don't want to keep reliving the bad ones. Make me forget. _Please_."

I wanted to tease her about putting so much pressure on me, but I didn't. This was not a time for jokes.

Instead, I took my time placing kisses all over her sensitive body. I loved seeing her skin flushed from my actions; I loved how she clutched me as I slowly and tenderly licked and sucked and nipped all over her. She was so responsive; I couldn't wait until she was more comfortable with me sexually. I had so much I wanted to explore with Sara. But for now, I would enjoy this very first time with her.

The only time I grew concerned was when I spread her legs and sucked her hot little clit into my mouth. She screamed so loud and bucked so hard that I was sure I'd hurt her or triggered some bad memory.

"Are you all right?" I asked as I looked up from my place between her thighs. She looked down at me like I was the stupidest person on the planet.

"Fine. Keep. Going," she demanded between pants and gasps. I chuckled and did as instructed.

I groaned as much as she did when I began placing my fingers inside of her tight wet center. It had clearly been a long time. It would likely hurt a bit when my cock entered her but the pain would be momentary and the pleasure lasting. I needed her to cum before I entered her though; I needed her as wet as possible to lessen the discomfort and I didn't have any lube with me.

I thought a little dirty talk might speed up the process. Dirty talk by Sara's standards anyway.

"You should see yourself, Sara," I said as I increased the circular motion of my fingers as she writhed beneath me. "Lying here with my fingers stuck inside you as you cum all over them."

"Oh god," she moaned as her hips bucked. I smiled.

"Do you want to lick my hand clean, or should I?"

"Caiusssss," she screamed as her entire back arched off of the bed and she clenched around my hand.

I wanted to wet her rosy nipples with the cum on my fingers and lick her juices off of those hard tips, but I thought that a bit much for this very first time. She was still twitching, mumbling, and moaning with her eyes shut as it was.

I stared down at her, positively delighted with myself. I had already given this beautiful woman the best sexual experience of her life, and I hadn't even entered her yet.

I quickly pulled a condom from the nightstand - I'd brought some along just in case - and rolled it down onto my steel-hard cock. Maybe in the future we wouldn't use them, but I didn't want her worrying about getting any diseases from me. She had enough to deal with just getting past the mental hurdle of being with me like this in the first place.

I knelt over Sara, placing gentle kisses on her nose and lips. She smiled and slowly opened her eyes.

"You know, I thought you were just bragging when you said you knew what you were doing. But _wow_," she said breathlessly.

I smirked then I stared at her more seriously. "This may hurt a little at first. You're very tight. Just hold on to me, okay?"

She nodded and caressed my cheek. "I trust you. I love you," she said.

Again, we groaned together when I slowly pushed inside her.

"Shit, you feel good," I said as I rested my head against her neck while I waited a bit for her to adjust to me. When she wrapped her long legs around my waist and stroked my hair with her hands, I knew she was ready.

"Please, Caius, more," she begged.

Of course, I obliged and picked up my pace.

I knew sex with Sara would be different. I had to be more cautious, more careful, and definitely not aggressive. But I never thought about how different I would feel. As much sex as I'd had, I'd never once had sex with someone I loved.

Because my feelings for Sara were already so strong, I felt overwhelmed by the intensity of the experience. Long after we came and cleaned up and lay together in bed gazing at each other like two young kids, I could still smell the scent of her perfume mixed with her shampoo mixed with her arousal, I could still see her hot moist skin flushed with desire, I could still feel her nails digging into my skin and the heels of her feet pressing into my legs and back. Sex with love was a powerful, lingering thing.

As we both neared sleep, even though it was early afternoon, I had one final thought.

"Good memory?" I asked.

"_Very _good, amazing, perfect, incredible memory," she replied with a mile-wide grin.

"You're so fucking dramatic," I said with a smirk as she laughed her beautiful laugh beside me.

* * *

**Satu****rday, March 17****, 2012**

_No._ No no no no NO_. _

Stupidly, I never considered the fact that a baby shower for Rose would mean that her family would visit. Yet, as I drove up the driveway at Carlisle and Rose's, I saw Don, her father, on the side lawn. Carlisle used that area as sort of a mini-green; Don was there, with a set of my nephew's clubs, practicing his swing.

If the father was here, then the mother was too. I groaned as I stepped out of my 911 Turbo.

"Caius," Don exclaimed. "A Porsche this time? You do like your toys."

"Don," I replied with a grin. "Your swing is all kinds of fucked up."

"Tell me something I don't know," he said as we both laughed.

"Please make my day and tell me that you left your wife in LA." Again, he laughed, much harder this time.

"No can do," he said. "And we're staying a few days." I groaned as he kept laughing at me.

"I'll set up a tee time at the club," I said as his face lit up. "Any particular day?"

"All of them?" he asked hopefully.

I laughed. "I'll check with Steve too, and let you know."

"Sounds good," Don said.

Steve, Emmett's father, was a guy's guy and I quite liked him. He'd become the closest thing to a real male friend I ever had. Had his circumstances been different, I thought he could have been a powerful businessman, like me. He wasn't afraid of hard work and people gravitated to him but he could easily see through their bullshit.

But early in his life, from my understanding, he'd fallen victim to his vice: alcohol. And that had derailed him completely. Now, like Sara, he had a single focus: winning back the approval of his child and trying to make up for lost time. Thankfully, Emmett didn't seem to be making him work as hard for it as Esme was making Sara.

I had no problem with Don and had gotten to know him a little better since they'd been visiting more, but I could tolerate him better with Steve around; I'm sure Don felt the same way about me.

Really, I'd grown to like most of Rose's family. I could deal with all of the Hales except for Tanya. That shameless, bossy, delusional woman just got under my skin, and she knew it too. I avoided her like the plague.

"The guys are up in the nursery, making space," Don said. "If you'll excuse me, I'll get back to working on my fucked-up swing."

I laughed all the way inside of the house. I did indeed find Carlisle in the large nursery with Edward and Jasper as well as Rose's brother, Henry. Emmett and Jake were likely at work where they usually could be found on the weekends.

"Hey, Caius," they all said in greeting.

"What in the hell is all this?" I asked. When I'd been here a few days ago, the nursery had been near completion. Yet today, there were bags and boxes all over the floor in total disarray.

"Gifts for the baby from Tanya, Maggie, and Irina," Carlisle said. "We've been instructed to put it all away while they're at the shower and make sure there's room for all the other gifts she'll receive today."

I smirked in understanding; Tanya had been bossing them around from the moment she'd arrived. Thank God I'd been down at my nightclub all morning taking stock of the liquor and meeting with the staff.

"Where is the shower? At the clubhouse?" I asked. Sara told me she was going but I couldn't remember where it was.

"Nah, they felt like that'd be too obvious," Jasper said. "It's at Bella and Emmett's place."

"Some of this completely clashes with Rose's decor," I said, looking around at all the shit Tanya bought in a clear attempt to show off.

"I know," Carlisle said, shaking his head. "We're just getting it all unpacked. I'll let Rose decide whether she wants to keep it all in here when she sees it."

"What can I do?" I asked. Carlisle and Jasper were putting together some type of large storage unit while Henry and Edward were assembling an intricate-looking swing.

"If you could start going through some of those bags, that would be great," Carlisle said. "There's hangers in the closet for the clothes."

I nodded, talking with them all as we worked. If anyone had told me last year this time that in a year, I'd be sitting here hanging up little pink baby dresses on little pink hangers, I'd have said they were fucking nuts. But the truth was, I couldn't wait to meet baby Dannah and I was enjoying all the preparations for her arrival.

"Was she really surprised?" I asked Carlisle.

"She was," he said, grinning broadly. "She's already called me. I'm in trouble for not telling her about it."

Even though Rose wasn't due until May 5, nobody believed she'd last through April as big as her stomach was. I felt quite bad for her; she looked extremely uncomfortable. They'd been planning the shower for next month, but everyone thought it best to move it forward.

"Are you on Spring Break?" I asked Henry.

"No," he replied. "That starts next weekend, but I drove up anyway. Rosie would kick my ass if everybody was here but me."

We laughed. She was very fond of her younger brother; she spoke of him often. He wasn't as overly ambitious as his other siblings, but he was focused on his goal of becoming a math teacher and I could respect that. Rose said he was near the top of his class at Portland State.

"So will you be Uncle Caius or Grandpa?" Henry asked as the others chuckled.

"That's a good question," I asked, grinning in spite of myself.

"I think Grandpa fits," Carlisle said warmly.

"No, I don't think so," Jasper said.

"I agree," said Edward snootily. "Grandfather Cullen sounds much more befitting someone of Caius's stature." We all laughed for quite some time, Carlisle and I more than the others.

"You gonna keep tryin' for a boy?" Jasper asked Carlisle. "Will you two be okay if there's no boys to carry on the name?"

"I've been informed in no uncertain terms that we will not be having any other children," Carlisle said as we laughed. "And that's perfectly fine with me."

"I think there would be too much pressure on a Cullen boy anyway," I said.

"True," Carlisle said. "And besides, if we're the last of the Cullens, we made quite an impact."

"Damn straight," I said.

I thought Carlisle and I had done more than enough to make my father proud. And if and when Dannah married, she would always be a Cullen whether she kept the name or not. She would achieve great things anyway; success was in her blood. Her father and I wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

**Tues****day, April 17, 2****012**

"You could have gone without me," I said to Sara.

"I didn't want to go before you did," she said. "Hurry though. I can't wait."

I did hurry to shower and change clothes so that we could get to the hospital before the end of visiting hours. Baby Dannah had made her early arrival in the wee hours of the morning and, of course, I'd missed it all. I'd been out of town on business for the last several days at a major food and wine convention in Napa Valley, California, schoomzing and kissing ass for the restaurant.

"She's already a true Cullen," I said proudly to Sara as Lyle, my driver, drove us to the hospital. "Couldn't be bothered to wait until she was supposed to arrive."

"You're so excited you almost forgot your cigars," she said, pointing to the gift bag on the seat.

"What did I do without you?" I asked as she grinned.

As a man who enjoyed a good smoke on occasion, I'd been looking forward to the traditional passing around of the congratulatory cigars almost as much as I'd been eager to meet the baby herself. I had special travel humidors made; each one included a cutter and an assortment of five of my favorite cigars. The name _Dannah Didyme Cullen _was engraved on each case in elegant script. I couldn't wait to pass them out.

"I should forewarn you. Tanya's there," she said. "She came on Sunday. Said she had a gut feeling. Irina and Don came too."

"Not even that woman will diminish my joy at meeting the baby," I said.

Sara smiled and told me all about the drama that I'd missed. Rose had been at work, having just finished the paperwork on a sale as she prepared to leave for the day. She'd been in her office when her water broke. Apparently, she'd been mortified. I chuckled because floors could be cleaned and chairs could be replaced.

Her boss had driven her to the hospital himself when she refused an ambulance. I'd have to personally thank him for that. Carlisle met her there and little Dannah arrived about six hours later, early this morning. A nasty thunderstorm had prevented me from getting a quicker flight home, but I was here now.

"I'll call you when we're ready," I said to Lyle when I exited the car with my bag of cigars in hand. "We may be a while."

"Yes, sir," he said. "And congratulations." I smiled and he nodded.

We'd barely made it inside when we found the far too boisterous "gang" in the lobby: Edward, Emmett, Jake, Jasper, Don, Henry, and Victoria's boyfriend, Robby. I assumed the women were upstairs.

"Uncle Caius!" "Grandpa!" they yelled as Sara laughed and I grinned. I hadn't done anything, but I felt on top of the world.

I was clapped on the back and congratulated as I passed around the cigars.

"Don't ever change, Caius," Jasper said when I passed him his case as the others laughed.

"I don't plan to," I replied.

"She's a beauty," Don said of his granddaughter. "Wait 'til you see her."

"We_ won't_ see her if we never get upstairs," Sara said, tugging me along as the others laughed.

"You're positively beaming," she said as she laughed at me too on the elevator. "You'd think you had the baby."

"It's exciting," I said. "A new member of the family. It's been just me and Carlisle for so long, and now we have another. It's a special feeling."

When the elevator reached the floor for the maternity ward, we stepped out and found Alice, Isabella, Leah, and Esme sitting in the floor's lobby quietly talking and laughing. They ran over to us and we were hugged anew. They laughed quite a bit when I gave them cigars too. Esme offered to show us to the room and the others decided to leave.

"She's so cute," Esme said as we followed her. "You'll see."

We reached Rose's room and I could see Irina and Tanya through the door, hovering over Rose on the bed.

"Here. Use some of this," Sara said as she passed me a bottle of hand sanitizer from her purse. "You don't want germs around the baby."

"Good thinking," I said as I did as instructed.

Before we could enter the room, Carlisle stepped out.

"Uncle Cai, thank God," he said as he uncharacteristically fell into my arms and instantly began to sob. After my initial shock, I wrapped my arms around him and held him. Sara took the bag of cigars from me with a smile as she followed Esme into Rose's room.

"I was so worried," he choked out as he clung to me and cried into my shoulder.

"It's okay," I said in a calming voice even though he was starting to get me emotional too. I saw the women looking at us through the door.

"She's here now, safe and healthy. It's okay," I said to my nephew as I patted his back and he continued to cling to me. I had never in my life seen him like this; it just drove home how special and important this moment was.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," I said. "But you were. You were right here for your wife and daughter, and that's all that matters." I felt him nod against my shoulder as I continued to hold him. Several nurses were watching us now with tender expressions on their faces, and I could see Rose crying inside of the room as she watched us too.

I was dying to meet my great-niece, my granddaughter, but I didn't rush him. My nephew needed me right now, and who else had he ever had to turn to besides me?

"She's so tiny," he said finally as he pulled himself away. "But perfect. So perfect."

"Of course she is," I replied as I passed him a handkerchief from the jacket of my suit. "She's a Cullen."

He laughed as he wiped his face. "And Rose was so amazing. She did great."

"She's a strong woman," I said. "Good thing we were right about her, huh?" He laughed and hugged me again.

"I love you, Uncle Cai," he whispered.

"I love you too, son," I replied.

"Come and meet my daughter," he said as he led me into the room.

"Hi, Caius!" Irina said excitedly as she hugged me.

"Hello, beautiful," I said as I kissed her cheek. I noticed Esme and Sara slip out of the room.

"What am I chopped liver?" Victoria asked as I hugged her next.

"It's not my fault you're not as pretty as Irina," I said as they all laughed.

"I'm so happy today, I'll even hug _you_," Tanya said as she hugged me quickly and I laughed.

"The same goes for me," I said.

"Hello, my love," I said when I reached Rose. She was sobbing quite a bit as I leaned down to kiss her cheek. I hugged her as carefully as I could.

"I'm glad you're here," she cried.

"I hear you worked right up until the last second," I said. "Impressive." She laughed as she wiped her face.

"Sit down and meet Dannah," she said, pointing toward a chair to her right.

Carlisle walked to the little clear crib on the side of the room. When I sat down, he carefully placed the tightly wrapped little bundle of baby Cullen in my arms as someone snapped a picture.

"Uncle Cai, meet Dannah Didyme."

I stared at the baby as she soundly slept. I could see little wisps of nearly white hair, not unlike my own, sticking out from under the little knit cap she wore. Her plump cheeks were pink and healthy. I wasn't familiar with what newborn babies normally looked like, but I knew that this one was fucking perfect. The most perfect baby ever.

"She's beautiful," I said to Rose who nodded and cried a fresh round of tears.

"Like her Mom," Carlisle said as he held Rose's hand and watched me.

"How much does she weigh?" I asked without taking my eyes off of the baby.

"Seven pounds, eight ounces," Carlisle said proudly. The baby stirred a little at the sound of his voice and when I looked at him, he couldn't have smiled any wider.

"What color are her eyes?" I asked.

"Sort of bluey gray," Rose said.

"And have we decided who she looks like?" I asked.

"You," Rose and Carlisle said together as the others laughed along with me.

"I didn't want to say it," I replied, grinning broadly myself.

"I know she's not a day old yet," I said, looking up at Carlisle, "but she looks very much like Didy. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," he nodded before tears fell down his cheeks.

I held the baby until she got hungry and started to fuss. As Carlisle leaned down to take her to give to Rose, I whispered in her tiny ear.

"I'll see you later, baby Dannah. I love you."

* * *

**A/N:**

**1. And so ends this tale of Caius Cullen. Very interesting guy, huh? **

**2. Only one more **_**Wednesday Dinner**_** universe chapter left: a second chapter of Edward's**_** Cartoons, Fries, and Plans with the Guys**_**. Hope to have it up soon. **

**3. As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**

* * *

**FYI: If interested, here's a list of the cars Caius has driven throughout the story:**

Maserati GranTurismo  
Bentley Mulsanne  
Mercedes ML63 AMG  
Porsche 911 Turbo


End file.
